


A Vanguard’s Tale

by LaNeO1989



Series: Mass Effect (Derek Shepard Series) [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-07-08 18:23:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 38,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19874050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaNeO1989/pseuds/LaNeO1989
Summary: Commander Derek Shepard has been a soldier who gets it done, and with style. When he becomes the XO of his surrogate father, David Anderson’s new ship the SSV Normandy his life is changed forever. A dark foe waits in the dark to end all of galactic civilization and he must team up with new friends to stop this monumental threat. Part 1 of a slight cannon divergent retelling of the Mass Effect Trilogy.





	1. Papa Anderson

**Author's Note:**

> This is MY Shepard and it has small changes, the biggest being timelines!!! This is a GALACTIC war...it took time lol...a lot will be headcannon on what I felt the dialog lacked.

**January 12, 2183 CE Arcturus Station**

I was walking back from training for the day when my OmniTool buzzed, the Caller ID read “David Anderson”. Activating the call, the mini screen popped up over my forearm with the face of the closest thing I’ve had to a father for over ten years. He had his business face on as he said, ”Shepard, you busy?” I scrunched up my face as i replied, ”No, but you know that...what’s up Anderson?” Without any change in his facial expression he said, “Good, my office...quickly.” The line died right after he finished, leaving me staring at my wrist with a puzzled look. Something wasn’t right, and he’s usually not that good at hiding stuff from me. Curiosity made my jog a little quicker than normal as i took off towards HQ.

When I got to the floor his office was on, I greeted the secretary he shared with the other captains of the Fifth Fleet. She returned the greeting and told me Anderson was waiting on me. ”Shepard, how long have you been Staff Lieutenant?” He asked as soon as we sat down. I shrugged because I truthfully couldn’t remember, it happened some time after the Blitz. Anderson locked eyes with me, knowing i was avoiding a hard topic. “Shepard, its been three years...and do you know why?” He asked, switching from Captain to father. My eyes started darting all around the room as i responded, “No, not really...not everybody is suppose to move up the ranks i guess?” He sighed and stood up, walking around to my side of the desk. “Derek, you’ve fought against every recommendation for promotion that’s come up...you cant keep beating yourself up.” Holding back anger and a few tears i responded, “Captain, I don’t deserve it...I don’t deserve any of it!!”

Switching back to Captain he replied, “That’s enough!! I will not continue to allow you to berate one of my best soldiers, even if its yourself!” I slunk back into the chair, “That’s not fair Anderson, I DON’T deserve anything...they’re dead!!! All of them, and i should have died too but somehow I didn’t and now everybody wants me to act like I didn’t get lucky. Everybody acts like I’m some super soldier who will always survive.” He stood and started to pace, something he’s done over the years when he was about to make me do something I didn’t want to. Turning to me he started off, “You’re right Derek, they are dead...but that’s not your fault. No one thinks you’re a super soldier, BUT, you are an amazing one!! You’re one of the only Biotic N7s, you were front and center for the Blitz, and you SURVIVED Akuze... and thats why, you’re GONNA take this promotion to Lieutenant Commander! It’s not even up for discussion...” My eyes narrowed as I responded, “and if I don’t?” He spun around with his dad face as he shouted, “I call Ahern and we proceed to whoop your ass, son...”

Knowing he was right, and not wanting to argue or hear Tadius‘s mouth i replied, “FINE!!! And you need to stop using the threat of you two old farts, I’m sure I could take you both.” His face softened, knowing he had won as he replied, “The day you can take us, is the day i let Udina be my boss.” We had a few laughs and then he pulled out the Gold Label Erasa for us to make a toast to my new title. When he sat back down behind the desk he looked me dead in the face, “There is a reason you needed to be this rank Shepard...I’m getting a new ship, real fancy...and I need an XO...a good one who can lead the ground team as well...and son, I’m telling you more than asking...you’re now the XO of the SSV Normandy.” I went bug eyed as I screeched out a loud “WHAT?!?”...

He rolled his eyes and pulled up some of the ship’s specs on the wall screen to the right of us. Over the next hour he explained the ship, the other officers on board, and the date we were deploying on the shakedown run. I left his office excited and confused, he was definitely holding back something. Anderson didn’t do anything without a reason so I decided to let him have his secret, but just for now.


	2. Shipping Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even the best of plans have kinks....

**January 28, 2183 CE 0900 Hrs Arcturus Station Dock F7BP**

  
“You’ve got to be shitting me!!!” I screamed into the skycar controls as I pushed the underpowered machine to its limits. I was suppose to be at the docks an hour ago, but some crazy incident in the car depo caused everyone’s reservations to disappear. I weaved in and out of traffic trying to find every single space I could use to move forward. Anderson was gonna flip the hell out on me, first day and I was already fucking up. The car hadn’t even landed but I was opening the hatch and jumping out into full track star mode as I ran up the gangplank. I slid to a screeching halt in front of a unpleased Captain who was in full dad mode as he stared me down, daring me to make an excuse.

Snapping off a sharp salute I tried to explain, “Captain! There was a problem this morning with the skycar depo, I’m so sorry..” He held up his hand to cut me off and turned around to walk into the airlock. Understanding that I needed to be in his shadow, I hung my head and entered only two steps behind him. The decon cycle ran in absolute silence, me staring at the floor, him staring a hole in the top of my head. When the decon finished, I moved towards the interior door but he boomed out, “DON’T MOVE!!”

I froze in my tracks as he continued, “The only reason you aren’t getting ready to start scrubbing the ceiling panels is because someone in depo messaged me and told me about the mixup! The first moment of shore leave we have back here at Aruturus, you will return that nice girl’s phone calls and take her to dinner. Do i make myself clear?” I shook my head realizing that Savanna really saved my ass. I looked up at him, his face neutral as he turned and left me in the airlock by myself. When I walked into the ship, I saw he hadn’t gotten far. “Tell the helmsman we can leave now that our wayward child is aboard.” He said as he turned and walked down towards the CIC.

I turned towards the cockpit and headed up, listening to two voices bicker. One i knew for a fact belonged to a good friend Kaiden Alenko, the other had to be our Helmsman Jeff Moreau. I’d heard a few things about him from some of the guys who liked to run flight sims. Said he had a chip on his shoulder, but I’d find out on my own. “Look Alenko, they already know what the damn ship looks like, they helped build it. We’re probably playing errand boy for somebody...” Jeff said in a mocking tone. “You’re way off Joker, they’re known for their precision... they probably just want to make sure anything with their names on it runs like it should,” Came Kaiden’s rebuttal.

I came into the cockpit, making sure to make a little noise so they wouldn’t think i was sneaking up on them. They both turned towards the noise with Kaiden giving a small salute. “Hey guys...” Was all I was able to get out before Jeff cut across me. “So you’re finally here, guess Anderson sent you up here to tell me to push of huh?” I raised my eyebrow as i responded, “He did, I am, are you usually so rude?” He rolled his eyes, “I’m always me, are you always late?” Kaiden was watching this in mild horror being the Boy Scout he always is. I crossed my arms, “I’m usually not, but i have been known to make a few mouthy crewmen regret their words...” He turned his head as he shrugged, “I regret nothing that I do and deal with my consequences accordingly.”

Before i could say anything else, Alenko jumped in, “Shepard...let it go...hes just feisty..”  
Steepling my fingers I said, “You might want to let our little pilot know that I have bounced a few crew members off a wall or two.” They got ready to say something but I put my hand up. I took a deep breath, “Let’s try this again...Hi, I’m Lieutenant Commander Derek Shepard...I’m gonna be XO under Captain Anderson.” Kaiden replied, “Promotion?!?! Hell yea Shep!!” I grinned a little and said, “Didn’t want it, got forced to take it....” Still looking like he was itching for a fight he said, “Jeff Moreau, Helmsman...go by Joker..” I gave him the ”great story bro” point and said, “Cool, get the ship going...”

  
I turned back to Kaiden and caught up for a few minutes while Jeff undocked and flew out towards the relay. To his credit, it WAS the smoothest takeoff I’d ever experienced. I heard Charles Presley call out approach vectors for the relay and before I knew it, the ship was bathed in blue. We were hurled through the mass relay’s corridor and dropped off in the Trebia Star System. Palaven was off in the distance, almost twenty four hours away at FTL speeds. I decided to explore the ship and get a feel for the layout. The biggest difference so far was the CIC, total Turian design. They Commanded their ship from raised platforms behind the galaxy map and navigation station. It gave the room a nice open feel, but it was weird.  
The twin staircases that connected the CIC deck to the Crew Deck were very much Human.

The rest of the ship seemed much like a truce of design, not too Human, not overly Turian. I was in LOVE with that drive core and the way it filled the Engineering Deck. I’d spent a lot of the last few weeks studying the science behind the Tantulus Drive, and its ability to aid in our cloaking abilities. After I scoped out the whole ship, I decided to try and find Captain Anderson. He was definitely dodging me, but I couldn’t figure out why. Tired of looking, i went to the Med Bay to catch up with Dr. Chakwas. If Captain Anderson was my surrogate father, she was my long lost Aunt.

“Ah! It’s about time you found your way in here. I was starting to think you didn’t love me anymore..” Came her heavily accented greeting. “Never that Doc, I’ve been trying to find Dad...but i think he’s a little mad at me.” I replied to her as I gave her a big hug. “No no, none of that...he’s dodging you for other reasons and that’s all you’ll get out of me. Now hop on this table so I can run some scans.” She said as she opened up her OmniTool. 

The orange glow passed over me and i saw the display running but couldn’t make out the words. “The privacy is on Shepard, you’ll never be able to read the back of my screen,” she said offhandedly while her fingers flew across the inputs. I huffed which made her snicker. After a few minutes, she closed the program and looked up at me, “Savanna really saved your ass this morning...make sure it’s a nice dinner, none of that quick shit you love...” I smiled as I replied, “Doc, I’m not gonna lie... I almost think she had something to do with it...” She shrugged, “Possible, and she isn't above it...”  
We continued like that for almost an hour, only parting after we realized it was late. I found my sleeper pod and crawled in. Staring out into the pod room, my OmniTool buzzed. It was a message from Anderson,

[Comm Room 0645 hrs don’t be late this time | Cpt. D. Anderson N7]

[Will do sir... | Lt. Comm. D. Shepard N7]

[Also, Chakwas said you were looking for me...Don’t, well talk about it tomorrow... | Cpt. D. Anderson N7]

[...I’m in a sleeper pod, I gave up on that mission sir... | Lt. Comm. D. Shepard N7]

[Good, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow... | Cpt. D. Anderson N7]

I read the last message and closed out the program, sleeper pods always made me fall asleep faster than I could in a real bed.


	3. A Turian Pickup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting into the beginning of the game, we meet a fan who happens to be a Turian SpecTRe

**January 29, 2183 CE 0630 Hrs Comm Room, Palaven‘s Orbit**

”Glad you showed up on time this morning Derek,” Captain said as I entered the room. I rolled my eyes and stood over behind one of the chairs. “So Captain, what’s going on.” I asked him, hoping he would spill before everyone got here. ”You’re too nosey for your own good...now drop it, you’ll find out everything you’re suppose to know when everyone gets here.” Was his annoyed reply. I poked my bottom lip out and he just raised his fist at me. Alenko strolled in a few minutes later, followed by the Doc, Adams, Pressly, and Jeff. We took our seats and Anderson opened his OmniTool. Swiping his display to the wall he said, “Ok, we’re picking up a Turian SpecTRe, Nihlus Kril. He will be joining us on our Shakedown of the ship. We will be conducting the tests in the Exodus Cluster.“ 

Jeff was the first one to speak, “This is a lot of cloak and dagger for a shakedown run...” Anderson replied, “This ship means a lot, to a lot of important people. So we entertain their whims and that’s the end of it.” Everyone in the room could tell it was more to be said, but no one dared to push it. He told the rest of them about all the stuff we talked about that first day. After he finished explaining the ship specs and what kind of missions we’d be on while the SpecTRe was on board, he dismissed us all. “Shepard, Alenko..you two stay behind...” he said right before we walked out.

Changing speed and direction I swung back around and came to parade rest in front of him with Kaiden doing the same. “At ease boys, take a seat...” He said and went back to his own chair. I raised my eyebrow as I asked, “There is more isn’t there?” He held his finger up to his mouth to silence me and he opened his OmniTool and started typing. The ships VI stated, “Microphone Feed Cut, Protocol Chimera Activated”

He stood up and folded his arms as he began. “So, I know that you both have probably figured out this is just a poorly disguised cover story. The Normandy WILL be in a shakedown run, but we will be visiting Eden Prime to recover an uncovered artifact. Nihlus will accompany you two, along with Private Jenkins to escort the artifact back to the ship before we fly it to an unknown location for study.” Kaiden asked, “What do we know about the artifact?” “Nothing, just that it was unearthed near the capital city.” Came his reply.

“Co-designed ship, random artifact pick up, Human and Turian operatives...what a set up for an epic story that takes a hard left into WTF land...I don’t like it Anderson...” I said absently. He shrugged, “That’s why you have Kaiden son, just roll with it and do what you do best.” I shook my head, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that this was the beginning of some bullshit. Anderson dismissed us with explicit orders not to discuss any of it with the other crew members.

There was enough time to get down to the mess and grab some food before we hit inner orbit around Palaven. Jeff’s voice came over the ship intercom, ”Captain, we just got our ping for Command Codes and Flight Intention, can you spare a second and clear that up for us...” There was a ship-wide ”ding” as he sent the info from his quarters. My OmniTool buzzed and it auto-connected to Anderson, “Docking Hatch in ten, Derek..” I gave a quick salute and he rolled his eyes and closed the connection before I could say anything.  
I met him at the airlock and he looked over, “I’ve worked with him before...he’s a professional but very easy to get along with. I think you’ll get along fine with him.” I nodded as the ships’s VI let us know the decon was finished.

The airlock spun open and we were greeted by a crimson skinned Turian. He was in full black armor that had crimson detailing that matched his skin almost perfectly. His white clan marking stood out as a stark contrast to his maroon plating. He reached out with a three fingered hand to greet Anderson, his subharmonics light and friendly as he said, “David, its been a long time... i was glad they sent you...” He met him with a firm hand as he said, “Nihlus...it has been a while, i too am glad its you and not one of your other... associates...” There was an odd silence, the kind that let’s everyone know they’re sharing the same thought but no one is gonna voice it.

Anderson broke the weird pause, “Nihlus, this is my Executive Officer, Lt. Commander Derek Shepard...” The Turian turned his body to me and i felt like i was immediately under scrutiny. I understood how people could compare Turians to Earth’s native birds because Nihlus’s avian stare was a little unnerving. His hand once again was moving to initiate a handshake, so I met it making sure to make it firm, but friendly. His brow plates rose very subtly, “Ah! Derek Shepard! I’ve heard a lot about you...your name rings in a few circles, it’s nice to finally meet you..” I was at a loss for words, turning to Anderson looking for a clue. I was met with a completely blank stare because that old bastard was hiding something else, but I’d deal with that later. “Nice to meet you as well, I’ve never had the chance to work with a SpecTRe so I hope this will be informative and interesting.” I saw Nihlus’s eyes dart quickly towards Anderson, and an even quicker nod of disagreement from the old fart.

You could almost see the gears change directions as he replied, “Informative... interesting choice of words... so you’re open to learning other tactics besides the ones taught in the Alliance?” Without missing a beat because it was the truth I replied, “Of course, you never stop learning...” He hummed in approval, and Anderson took it as an opening to pull him away. “Shepard, go get the ship moving, I’m gonna give our guest a tour of the ship. I snapped off a salute while trying to read his face, but he was giving me nothing to work with. They walked back in and turned right into the ship and disappeared.

I walked back in and headed left towards the cockpit. Once again Kaiden was in the Co-Pilot chair talking to Jeff. I’d barely cleared the door frame when i was hit with a million questions from Jeff. I waved them away and told him to head back towards the relay. We made good time back to the relay since we weren’t hindered by other flight plans, it seems that SpecTRe’s take precedent in relay jumps. I stayed in the cockpit for this jump, watching our helmsman line us up with the flight vectors given to him by Navigator Pressly. The Relay activated and tendrils of blue Biotic energy grabbed the ship before flinging us along the corridor of low mass it had created.

It was always exciting to me to see the same energy I used in battle, on such a grand scale. I’d never voice it but to my closest of friends, but I envied the way Asari children were nurtured in their Biotics from a very young age. I didn’t find out i was a Biotic until I was under attack on Midnoir. If it hadn’t been for Anderson pushing me into the Alliance, I would have never gotten to where I was with my control. Kaiden always talks about how he had always been afraid to really push his luck because of the implant he has.

The L2 was notorious for its horrible build quality, but he got the lucky end of the deal because a lot of the L2 implanted humans didn’t make it. Him and I are almost equally matched in power levels. He has a little bit more strength, but I have a lot more stamina that him. It was one of the good things about joining when I did, I was fitted with the L3 implant which was leaps and bounds more safe than his, meaning I could go a lot longer before I felt the physical pain of overuse.

We came out of the relay in the cluster, and were immediately given approach vectors for the relay into the Utopia system. During the line up, Anderson’s voice came across the ship comms, “Joker, IES active when we drop out of this jump please.” “Aye Aye Captain...” Came Jeff’s reply. So it seems he’s only a smart ass with me. The jump went off without a hitch and we slowed down to FTL with Eden Prime about six hours away. “IES active, all boards are green” Jeff announced into the comms.

“Good, your captain will be pleased,” came the voice of the Turian who had snuck up behind us. He turned away and walked back out of the cockpit. “I don’t like him...” Jeff huffed out. Kaiden was quick on his retort, “You don’t even know him...” Before Jeff could stick his foot in his mouth, Anderson came across the comms, “Send Commander Shepard to the Debrief Room Joker..” He replied, “On his way, hey watch out, Nihlus is...” but he was cut short by the annoyed Dad voice of the Captain telling him that he was already in the room. I turned to leave and said, “Great....now you’ve made him mad...”

I was walking down through the CIC and passed Pressly letting another crewmen know how much he didn’t like the fact that we had a Turian on the shakedown run. I didn’t even break stride, there would be time to address that bull later. Standing next to the monogram wall, Doctor Chakwas was chiding Private Jenkins for his rambunctious attitude. I stopped and promised him wed find some trouble, but don’t rush it. A flash of the fight for my life on Akuze reminding me that it isn’t as glamorous as people make it out to be.  
I walked into the Comm room, to find Nihlus by himself watching an Eden Prime tourist video.

His back was towards the door as he stated, “Commander Shepard, I was hoping you’d get here first. It will give us a chance to talk." With a raised eyebrow I asked, “What did you need to talk about? I thought Anderson said meet him here...” "I’m interested in the world, Eden Prime...I’ve heard its quite beautiful!" He responded. "They say its a paradise, that’s it is beyond beauty...I myself have never been." I admitted. "Yes... A paradise...It’s a symbol for your people isn't it? It’s proof that Humans can establish and protect their colonies!" He beamed.

I could tell he meant no harm or disrespect, but his line of questions was a little unsettling since he already knew alot about me and now seemed to have a facination with our destination. "Why do you ask, is there something I should know?" I questioned. He responded in a calm but truly inquisitive tone, "Your people are still newcomers. The galaxy can be a dangerous place, is the Alliance truly ready for this?" Before I could respond, Anderson came through the door. "I think its about time we told the Shepard whats really going on." He said to Nihlus as he watched me for a reaction.

The Turian returned to a more business-like stance as he said, "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run." Trying to fight the smirk forming at the edge of my mouth, I said, "Yea, I figured there was something that you two werent telling us." Anderson cleared his throat, with a hard frown on his face, “We’re makeing a covert pickup on Eden Prime. Thats why the IES HAD to work."  
"Why the secrecy, there is something else isnt there?" I asked, trying to read Anderson's face, but finding nothing.

"This comes down from the top! Information strictly on a need to know..." he piped out in full Dad mode, for me questioning his motives. Then he continued, "A reasearch team on Eden Prime found some kind of beacon during an excavation....It was Prothean in origin..." "Prothean, I thought they vanished fifty thousand years ago!" I choked out, surprised by the news. Nihlus, who had been watching the pictures on the screen again, turned and said, "Their legacy still remains. The Mass Relays, The Citadel, even our ship drives are based off their technology." Since I wasn't going to get any information they didnt want me to have, I lowered my head as I asked, "So, what else can you actually tell me."

"This is BIG Shep! Last time we had a discovery like this, it jumped our tech two hundred years forward. They dont have the means or training to handle this, so were taking it to a Citadel research location for proper study." He pushed out, unable to hold all his excitement in. "This goes beyond just human interest, it could affect every species in Council Space!" Nihlus added, his voice also carrying a slight excitement in his subharmonics.

"So this is simple and we’re not expecting any trouble?" I asked. With a quiver from his mandbles he said, "I always expect...trouble." Realizing his opening had presented itself, Anderson stepped up, “There’s more Shepard. Nihlus is also here to evaluate YOU!" Feeling my skin prickle because I knew this was going somewhere I didn’t want it to go, I asked, "Me?! Whats going on Captain?" He let out a heavy sigh and replied, "Don't play dumb Derek! Do you think they would have allowed you as my XO if there wasn't something else? Alliance had been pushing for this for a long time, they want a bigger role with the Citadel council. If we get a Human SpecTRe, that will show how far the Alliance has come."

I cut my eyes at him and said, “So they send you to do the dirty work because they knew I could never say no to you?!” He pulled back with a hurt look in his eyes, “You’re way out of line solider! Yes they wanted me to get you to stop being a little bitch! Derek...you are a great solider, a master tactician, and a formidable biotic...and quite frankly I’m sick of your shit! Do you think you’re the only one who ever survived a mission alone?”  
I was caught off guard by his rant and really didn’t know how to respond. Nihlus walked over to me and placed a gloved claw on my shoulder, "Not many could have survived what you did on Akuze...That strong will to LIVE is why I put your name forward. Not all Turians see humans as a threat. Humanity has a lot to offer the rest of the galaxy. The SpecTRes are an elite group, its hard to find a person with the skills we seek. We don't care that you hapen to be Human as well."

I stood there for a moment processing it all. The brass had really outdone themselves this time, so I replied "What do i have to do..." We talked about how we would be on Council requested missions where he would let me run mission ops and he would evaluate my response to the problems and challenges we faced. The biggest thing he stressed was he had to decide my SpecTRe Rating, which was how the Council decided which operative to deploy. Alenko and Jenkins would be my ground support to start, but I would be paired with other SpecTRe support teams to see how I handled the other Council races. Towards the end, we would be deployed on missions deemed to need multiple SpecTRes to make sure I would work well with the rest of the group. 

As we talked more about the the beacon, becoming a SpecTRe, and about Eden Prime, the ships proximity alarm started blaring. Joker came across the intercomm. "Captain! We’ve got a problem...Transmisssion from Eden Prime, you need to see this..." The wall activated into a video displaying a female officer pushing someone down on the ground, there was heavy ammunition exploding all around them. They looked like they were in real trouble. Captain Anderson saw something in the video, and told Joker to rewind the feed. As the video stopped at the desired spot, the image of a gigantic dreadnought took up the frame.

It wasnt like anything I’d seen before. It was shaped like a black squid, legs instead of tenticles coming out of its lower rear. ”Joker, take us in full stealth,” he said before turning back to me. “Suit up Commander...Nihlus and I will meet you in the shuttle bay...” I snapped off a salute and headed downstairs to the Armory.


	4. Eden Prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hitting the ground running, the team finds themselves unprepared for the events unfolding around them. A single shot changes a lot of well thought out plans.

**January 31, 2183 CE 0922 Hrs Shuttle Bay Normandy SR-1, Eden Prime Surface**

Captain Anderson, Nihlus, Jenkins, Kaiden and I all met at the cargo bay door. Anderson sent a file to my OmniTool with the layout of the colony as he said, “This was definitely not part of the plan so you guys are going in blind. Secure the beacon, that’s your top priority.” Nihlus turned to us as he snapped on his helmet, “I’m going to scout out ahead of you and feed you what i find. I move a little better by myself, no offense..” The door opened and he jumped out, assault rifle on a sweep as he took off for the tree line in front of him. The ship lifted back off and moved to another location. “Drop point two,” came Jeff’s message as he settled back on the surface. Anderson walked over to me, “The mission is yours now Shepard, keep the comms open and stay frosty.” I nodded and snapped my helmet closed, turned and checked Jenkins and Kaiden, both giving their own version of the ready signal. Anderson leaned in close to my ear, “Be careful son..” and with a pat on my shoulder he walked back into the ship.

”Move out,” I told them as i hopped down, shotgun at the ready. Hitting the ground and taking in the landscape, i realized that the travel video did Eden Prime no justice. Even with the fires burning off to our right, and the red tinged horizon, you could tell this was a place of awe. We started moving forwards when a huge bag like creature floated towards us. My Biotics came to life around my arm as i got ready to throw a Warp Field but I felt Jenkins put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey Commander, they're harmless...i promise,“ he said jokingly. I relaxed with a smirk on my face, “Coulda warned me about the floating trash bags..” He shrugged and resumed his battle stance as we moved forward. The next clearing we came to, i stopped to make sure we were following the map into the colony correctly. While i was reading over a few of the program scripts i had running in the background my private comm activated and Kaiden said, “Powder to Cerulean, 4 o’clock needs your attention...”

Knowing that’s where Jenkins was standing, i turned to see him standing ramrod straight. Looking into his lightly tinted visor, i could see he was seething with anger. Had he been a Biotic, his Aura would have been bright and wide. Turning to face him completely i asked, “Jenkins...are you ok..” His response was tight and filled with anger, “That fire, about six clicks northwest of here...the big one? That’s my parents farm...” The color drained out of my face, “...Ricky...you ok?” His face was absent of any emotion as he replied, “I’m fine...can we continue moving forward, these people need us.” Then he walked over to the next group of boulders on the path we were taking into the center of the colony. Kaiden looked over at me and i could tell he felt it too, we needed to wrap this up quickly.

We rounded the boulder formation and continued to check the radar for any known enemies. As we approched an incline, taking the largest of two rocks as cover, Jenkins looked out, then nodded as he started to move foward to the next set of rocks. He was completely out of cover when we heard the whirl of a gattling gun start. Out in the open, he took twenty rounds to the chest before we could pull out of cover and destroy the two drones delivering the rounds. They exploded as we ran over to where he was laying to find the powerful guns of the drones had cut straight through his shields. He was laying there, his eyes were wide open and staring coldly at the sky as Kaiden ran his medical scan across his body hoping that he could do something. We moved him to a more protected spot and i reached down, unlatched his helmet to close his eyes.

I turned to Kaiden with regret as I said, "We have to push forward, the mission comes first." He nodded as we moved up the hill, our suits, now able to detect the drones alerted us to the presence of three more at the crest of the hill. I pulled out my shotgun, and aimed for the closest of the three. It took only two shots to explode, but it sent the others on a path straight for us. Our biotic flares happened simultaneously as we both took a drone. My Cerulean Warp Field engulfed my drone, causing its shielding to dissapate and after one shot from my shotgun it exploded. I saw Kaiden's ricoching off a nearby tree, covered in the Powder Blue residue of his Throw. It laid there for a second, then it too exploded. With a game plan on how to take them out, we wound through the area, using the rocky terrain to our advantage destroying each pocket of drones before they could even damage our barriers.

Coming around a large bend, we could hear gunfire, Alliance gunfire, over the next incline responding to the drone’s rail guns. Ducked down in the last cover spot before the descent down the hill, we saw a soilder in white and pink armor running towards where we were in cover at. I recognized her from the distress call we intersepted on the Normandy. Her aim was impeccable as she fired from the hip as she ran backwards. She was almost to our location when a shot finally broke her shields. Quick thinking had her diving behind a large rock to let her shields regen. Kaiden and I stepped out, both hurling a Warp Field at the drone. It exploded from a Biotic detonation of the contrasting energies leaving the soilder checking her six to see where the help came from.

Standing up as we got to her, she offered a strong salute, “Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams..” I returned the salute as I introduced us, “At ease soilder, I’m Lt. Comm. Derek Shepard and this is Staff Comm. Kaiden Alenko...So what’s the sitrep?” She explained how everything was normal until an odd dreadnoght landed planetside. It started unloading Geth platforms and then their comms went to shit. "GETH!!! They havent been seen outside of the Veil in almost 300 years...Why now?" Kaiden asked her. "Dunno sir, i just know the flashlight headed fuckers have shoot to kill orders." she responded, the agitation in her voice directed towards the machines, not Alenko. When we asked about the beacon, she told us that the dig sight was right up the next hill. As we stood back up to leave, we heard what sounded like a scrambled VI trying to speak and looked up to see the very machines Williams spoke of.

They moved more like ground troops, nothing like the gunned drones we’d already faced. As they spread out, guns raised, they seemed to be in search of something, probably the woman crouched beside us. Coming out of cover, we open fire on them. My shotgun sent the closest one backwards, shields completely fried. As i aimed for another shot, i saw a bullet pierce the light on its head and turned to see Williams staring down a sniper rifle. Impressed, i let her take point as we took out the rest. Kaiden's Warp, my shotgun blast, and her rifle precision made quick work of the group. As we stood over one of the "bodies" i scanned it with my OmniTool.

Moving foward, i noticed large spikes all over the place. "Williams, what are those things?" I asked her. "No idea...Geth must have brought them with them," she responded. We came to another clearing and as we rounded the corner, we saw the Geth restraining the colonist and putting them on the lowered towers. As the colonist struggled to get down from where the Geth held them still, The tower activated and what we orginally thought were antenna shot up impaling the colonist. Running out of cover, we opened fire on the group of Geth, careful not to shoot at the colonist. With another group of the machines down we were able to investigate the towers.

We approched one, and Kaiden and i both activated our scanners. The bodies at the top rapidly changed in front of us and the towers retracted. As the bodies came down the stood up, reanimated somehow even though they had been impaled. Covered completely in cybernetics, they glowed blue from the elctrical charge coming off their body. They ran straight for us, making inconprehensible sounds. Williams froze, unable to decide if she should shoot or not as the first one got close to her. Once in range, it discharged its electrical field frying her shields. Not willing to loose another soilder today I launched a Throw Field that sent the abomination backwards into one of its companions.

Snapping out of it, Williams reached back for her assult rifle, whipping it around and mowing every single one of the creatures down before she even let off the trigger. She stood there for a moment frozen again. The gun fell from her hand and right behind it, she dropped to her knees. "Those people....they worked the tramline...I KNEW THEM!" She said, in a violent whisper. I crouched down beside her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She straightened up quickly then patted my hand and stood up as she said, "Lets check those storage sheds over there, make sure there arent any people in there.” We walked over guns drawn, with Williams holding hers a little tighter.

I hacked the first lock and the door spun open to reveal, emptiness. Walking over to the second one, i saw movement through the shutters. Hacking this door lock, the door spun open to reveal two scientist. They both had their hands up in surrender. We talked for a second, but moved on when I realized they had no information to help us. The path took us up and around to the dig site, but we found that the beacon had been moved. Williams concluded it had been moved in preparation for our arrival to the spacedock, accessible by the tramline...the one she had just mentioned a few minutes ago.

We started out towards the tram station but on the way we heard a single gunshot ring out. "OK team, DOUBLE TIME!!! I wanna know what the fuck that was!!" I said to Alenko and Williams. We moved through the lowlands, and came to the hill that lead down to the tram. Looking down it was at least twenty Geth troops on guard between us and the tram. I looked at both of them before we all switched to different guns. Comming out of cover, we focused fire on the closest enemies, taking out shields as we went. Kaiden was taking advantage of the unshielded Geth, sending out Throw Fields that were sending them flying into each other. I was pumping out grenades that had the Geth further away from us exploding and damaging the ones outside of the blast. We carved a path straight through the intrenched foe, stopping only long enough for our guns to cool off before they overheated. Within twenty minutes, all thirty-five Geth troops and all their drones were destroyed.

We walked over to check out another shed that we saw. There were more people in there, but they were for all the wrong reasons and it took a lot of fast talking to keep Williams from shooting them all. Continuing down to the platform, Kaiden letting out a hard breath as his pace quickened to get ahead of us with his OmniTool raised. I noticed where he was heading and let out my own string of cuss words. Nihlus was face down on the ground in a pool of blue blood, a single shot to the back of his head. "Damn, who shot the Turian? And what is he even doing here?" Asked Williams. "...this wasnt just any turian, this was the SpecTRe that came with us!” I sighed. "Nihlus was a trained veteran, who could have gotten a shot off like that?" Kaiden asked, a question he probably didnt mean to vocalize. I sighed and reached down to turn the turian over.

There was sudden movement in the stacked boxes behind us. We swung around as Williams gun took aim and Kaiden and I flashed Biotic Blue. The dock worker came out with his hands raised as he told us about another Turian, named Saren, who seemed to be friends with Nihlus. “He took the shot when that Nihlus guy let his guard down,” he said. After we found out why the dock worker was there in the first place, we had to keep Williams from blasting the poor guy. "I can’t fucking believe him!!" She spat as we walked towards the tram station. Something told me she was just a little more gun happy than normal because of what was happening around us today.


	5. The Beacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geth, Bombs, and a strange obelisk....

**January 31, 2183 CE 1142 Hrs Eden Prime Surface, Spaceport Tram Station 28BR**

As we got close to the stairwell that lead down to the tram, we heard the sound of more Geth coming up to greet us. I took point and as the first one came up the stairs and my Throw Field sent it flying over the railing and down into the canyon below. We found six more Geth on the platform that were easily dispatched by our little ground team. Standing on the tram platform, I turned to face the Gunnery Chief and asked, "Williams, are you ok? If you aren't...its not a problem..." She looked up at me, with a mixture of hurt and anger, "I'm fine skipper, i just don't want to talk about it right now...if you don't mind?" Feeling like i should probably leave it alone for now, i nodded and turned around to the tram controls.

I ran across the controls until i found the forward commands and the platform lurched forward towards the docks. The loading platform was crawling with Geth as the dock came into view. All three of us crouched down behind the control panel, using it for cover. I heard Kaiden swear and looking over he tapped his comm in his helmet. I switched on the comm in my own helmet as i saw Williams do the same. His voice came over as barely a whisper, " My suit is picking up twenty Geth...and four detonation charges!!" I huffed as i responded, "Well Alenko, how bout you take the charges, Williams... Cover him while he works... I’m pushing through these fuckers!"

Everyone nodded and as the tram stopped we bolted. I went up the ramp and towards the first spot of cover i could find while i saw in my periphial, Alenko and Williams heading towards the first bomb that was directly behind us. Leaning out of cover i saw three Geth with their guns trained right at me. I ducked back into cover before their shots buzzed past me. Leaning out again, I threw a large Warp Field right into the middle of the two that were huddled together. They made a loud shriek as the Warp sheared and twisted their metal bodies on a molecular level. When then they finally died, I pulled out of cover and ran forward to the next spot i could find. It was quiet until i heard a loud stomp coming at me.

When I looked out, I was met with the sight of a Geth, larger than the rest, running full speed at me. I shot a few shots at it, my shotgun barely having any effect. There was the snap of a powerful sniper rifle from behind me that caused the light of the huge red Geth explode. The shot killed it instantly, but the machine was so large and heavy that it hit the floor and slid into me. As I fell down, i turned to see Williams lock eyes wit me and wink as she said across the comms, “I can watch your back too Commander.” I picked myself up and started picking off the smaller Geth units again, watching for the larger units. The gunshots behind me after a few minutes let me know, they’d finished their task and had joined me to take out more Geth. 

Using that, i started barreling through the cover spots more quickly until i got almost to the end of the walkway. I could hear the sound of one of the large Geth stomping towards me again. Stepping out of cover, i threw two Warp Blasts at it and ran head long towards it. The combination of Warp Fields destroyed its shields and as soon as i got into range I blasted it square in the chest with my shotgun. It wasnt enough to take it down but it slowed, so i shot it again and this time it was enough to stop its forward charge. Running at full charge myself, I rammed into it with my own body. I felt the shock through my body as my barrier shattered from the force, but i was able to send the bulky machine backwards.

My suits pressure warnings rang in my ear, and my shoulder burned with pain for a second before my suit flooded the area with MediGel. The large machine was spralled out as i put two more shotgun blast into it head, the light dying in a defyingly slow pace. The armor plate above my shoulder was completely caved in, my whole left side burned, and i couldnt move my arm because it was probably dislocated. The only reason i wasn't passed out on the floor was the flood of MediGel, stims, and painkillers my suit forced into my bloodstream. I sighed and continued down towards the dock.

Alenko and Williams caught up to me, both of them going wide eye when they saw my shoulder. "Shep! That looks nasty, let me take a look..." Kaiden said as he reached for my arm. I twisted my body out of his reach and walked down the flight of stairs in front of me. Calling back to him, i said, "Im fine...always will be!" The stairs led down to the dock that was just a wide open space, that seemed to be completely deserted. "Where are the Geth?" Williams asked. "Maybe we got them all?" Kaiden responded. "Not likely, spread out...lets find that beacon." I said.

We spread out wide to clear the dock but the only thing around was a large black obelisk emminating a strong green glow. Williams spoke up, "It wasnt doing that when we found it!" "Well be careful, we dont know what it is." I responded. Unfortunately, my words went unheeded and a moment later Williams was closing in on the beacon. There was a surge of energy as the beacon flared to life. The green glow of the artifact pulsed brightly and then just as quickly started to pull Williams towards it. Without even thinking, i ran towards her. I was able to knock her out of the grip the artifact had on her, but didnt have enough momentum to keep myself from being pulled in.

I felt myself being pulled in by the strongest Pull Field i've ever been caught in. As i left the ground i could just make out Alenko holding Williams back from trying to grab me. Completely off the ground, the green around me pulsed again and my mind exploded as i was forced to a vision. My head throbbed as i saw organic material, burning and melting. Synthetic implants pulling away from their resting place. Agony and death surronding it all. Screaming and pleading for it all to end. Static noise that sounded like a message. Shapes and colors all trying to express themselves in a way that i couldn't understand. As the message weaved itself into my subconscious, the vision pulled away, planets zooming by until there was nothing.

The black void filled my brain as the image of the ship we'd seen on our way to Eden Prime took over the vision. I felt myself hit the ground and then i remember nothing else.


	6. Welcome Back, Commander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard wakes up after his encounter with the beacon. It’s time to face the music! Somebody has to explain how this mission went south...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a lot written, but I’m going over everything with a fine tooth comb so it’s slowly coming together...so stick with me! I promise i won’t stall again like this!
> 
> Feedback always welcomed!

**February 2, 2183 CE 0360 Hrs Serpent Nebula, En-Queue for Widow Mass Relay**

  
  


My head was swimming as I regained consciousness and tried to open my eyes. My eyelids refused to open while my brain literally pounded in my head. I groaned as I tried to push the residual images from the vision out of my head. Staring at the ceiling of the Med Bay, Dr. Chakwas noticed me stirring after I was finally able to open my eyes. 

She strolled over, British voice calm as ever as she said, "Careful Commander, that wasn't a drinking contest that knocked you out." I sat up slowly as her OmniTool passed over me and she asked, "How do you feel Shepard?" Slow and shaky, I replied, "...like that time I headbutted a Krogan..." She shook her head and responded, "Well your vitals are normal, but while you were unconscious, you had some abnormal brain waves… almost like you were very much awake and in the middle of a fight no less." 

I joked, telling her that’s exactly what it felt like. She popped me in my good arm and let out a slight chuckle. Then her face turned very serious as she said, "But, dont think youre off the hook!!! You rammed a machine!! Derek, you've been in the bone machine since they brought you back!! I spent seven hours pulling metal shards out of your shoulder blade!!" She continued her chastising until the door to the med bay opened.

"Finally up I see," came Anderson's booming voice. I looked over and saw worried lines etched on his face. I was trying to hide the pain, but it wasn't working for him. "Yea, how long was I out?" I asked. "Long enough for us to be a couple hours out from the Citadel… I need you up and moving for the meeting with Udina." he replied. 

My face turned sour at the mention of that troll’s name. Ever since his nephew got shot on a mission we had together, he's had a hardon for me. Every single thing I’ve done, he downplayed. If I screwed up, he was the first to speak up! To him, I was the fuckup who had a good streak of not dying.

I sighed and went to stand when I felt Anderson put a hand on my good shoulder. Silently, I blessed the fact that his gesture let me hide the fact that I almost passed out. In full Dad Mode, he looked me straight in the eyes and asked, “Are you sure you're ok Derek?” Flashing a smile that not even I believed, I responded, “Im fine, always will be...” 

Anderson cut his eyes at me, but dropped it nonetheless. I told him about the vision that the beacon forced into my head and about the second Turian, named Saren. He tensed up at the mention of the name and his face took on a grimace I’d never seen in the fatherlike figure standing beside me. "If Saren is mixed in with this, we just got a lot more screwed."

We finished our little debrief and he dismissed me. About to make our last jump into the Widow System, I walked up to the cockpit, VERY slowly. Kaiden and Jeff were up there going back and forth just like the last time I came in. "Joker, really?" I heard Kaiden asking. "Hell yea man! There gonna be pissed that Nihlus is dead." He responded. 

They both turned around as I walked in, "Shep! You're up!" Kaiden said. I nodded and replied, "Yea...you thought a little movie was gonna keep me down?" Jeff raised an eyebrow and said, "Scuttlebutt says you saved a damsel in distress." Kaiden flipped around to face him, "...and if Ashley heard you call her a damsel… she'd drill you full of lead from halfway across the ship!" 

It was my turn to look surprised as I asked, voice full of sarcasm. "So...Ashley huh? You already on a first name basis with her, Alenko?" He immediately turned a bright shade of red. "Shep… I… shut up, just shut up… maybe you should go talk to her too!" He whined. I just grinned and replied, "I'll talk to her don't worry..." 

Coming out of the relay jump, the Citadel came into view, and it was breathtaking! The arms of the sleek space station shot out from the presidium ring like fingers beckoning you in. As you passed into the arms, you realize how small you are compared to the huge station that you could get lost in. Coming to the end of the arms that serve as the 'wards' of the station, Jeff was on the comm. 

"Citadel, this is SSV Normandy, requesting docking clearance and approach vector." A very Asari sounding voice came back, "Normany, you are cleared to land, passing you to Alliance Air Traffic for final approach and docking instructions." After we docked, we were told it would be about an hour before we were going to be allowed to leave the ship. Council reps came aboard and removed the body of the SpecTRe while we waited. Deciding to use the time wisely, I walked downstairs to talk to Williams and found her sitting by herself at one of the tables in the Mess Hall. 

I sat down in the chair beside her and said, "You know, you don't have to sit here by yourself, Williams." She looked over at me and replied, "I know, just got a lot on my mind." "I know it's hard to lose your entire squad..." I said quietly. She looked over with tears in her eyes, "Commander, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move on from this!" Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her into a hug as she sobbed. 

She cried for a few minutes, then she pulled away. Looking me in the face, she said, "Not only did I lose my squad, but now im here replacing someone who JUST died." I didn’t recall Anderson saying anything about her being transferred to the Normandy as a replacement for Jenkins in the ground team. Shaking my head, I remembered it didn't matter. Right now I was comforting the living. 

I looked at her in her eyes and said, "You're not replacing anyone. He died fighting for his home, and you have joined us because we need, and want someone who can complement the skills needed to serve on the most advanced warship in the Alliance!" She sobered up a little and said, "Thanks Commander, and call me Ash." I smiled, "Well Ash, everyone seems to call me Shepard...but Derek works just as well..." 

We talked for a few more minutes, and I realized, Kaiden was right. Ashley was a wonderful person, who did seem like she would drill someone for calling her a damsel. Anderson came over the comm and told the ground team to report to the airlock. Ash and I headed up to meet Kaiden. He was already there, having just come from the cockpit. Anderson was only a few steps behind us. When he reached us, Anderson turned me around and firmly said, "Shepard… they're gonna come at you hard, and Udina isn't going to help you unless it helps him so be ready son." I nodded and we walked into C-Sec Headquarters.


	7. Visiting A Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard and Udina have a... complicated history!

**February 2, 2183 CE 0600 Hrs Citadel, Presidium Ring, Human Embassies**

“...Derek, I’m telling you now.... don’t start with him...” Anderson said as we ascended the first flight of stairs. I cut my eyes over my shoulder, “I won’t, if he doesn’t...” There was a loud huff behind me and I ignored it. Standing in front of the door, I waited until everyone had caught up before I hit the haptic control. As soon as we all stepped into the office, Udina’s scraggly voice rang out, "So not just the normal coat tail fuckup, but the whole damn crew this time, huh Papa Anderson?"

My blood pressure rose as I responded, "FUCKUP!!! I DIDN'T DO SHIT MOTHERFUCKER!!!" Anderson's face paled as he realized the conversation was heading south quickly! Kaiden turned bright red and Ashley just stood open mouthed. Udina was obviously ready because he spat back just as quickly, "YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN A FUCKUP SHEPARD! Getting a SpecTRe killed is just another addition to a long list of shit you've been responsible for!” I stood, eyes open wide as I replied, "I had nothing to do with that you bastard!" His face turned into a sneer, "Like Akuze… Commander?" 

Time froze as my blood boiled and anyone who had looked in my eyes would have seen the swirl of my cerulean biotics as I launched myself at the smug son of a bitch. I was halfway to him when I found myself bathed in a powder blue Stasis Field. Through my peripheral I could see Kaiden's hands up, glowing, while his eyes were still wide open. Anderson's voice was booming in his Commander Tone, "Lt. Commander Derek Shepard, STAND DOWN!!!" 

Kaiden released me and I fell on the desk. "Captain Anderson please take..." Udina was saying before Anderson cut him off. "Don't even go there Udina!!! I should have let him get to you!" I was getting ready to say something when Anderson wheeled around on me shouting, "AND YOU!!! WHAT WERE YOU GONNA DO!!! HIT HIM!!!" 

I stood there looking at the floor, trying to will my biotics to calm down. "I know what happened, Udina read the reports...All of you meet us at the Council Chambers in three hours, DISMISSED!" Anderson's voice was at a mild roar as he pointed me to the door. Ash and Kaiden fell in line behind me as we moved through the hatch, and the door lock turned red behind us. I was seething as we walked down the stairs back to the common area. Ashley and Kaiden were quiet as church mice while they followed me, thinking I knew where I was going. 

When we got to the receptionist desk, I asked her if there was a bar in this building. She smiled and directed us towards the upper lounge in the opposite wing of the building and returned to her work. Once we got there, Kaiden found us a table while I grabbed us a few drinks. I sat down at the table and gave Kaiden the first beer and stopped. Looking over at Ashley I said, “Me and Kai are both biotics, so we will metabolize this very quickly… can you hold your liquor, Chief?” 

She gave me a smirk as she took a bottle, swiped the top off, and took a healthy chug. “One beer ain’t gon kill me skipper...” Came her playful response. Kaiden spoke up, “Good, because drinking with Shep will have you dancing on tables if your not careful...” She looked at him with a quizzical look, so I explained. “What he means is HE can’t handle HIS and when purple Asari invite him to dance with them on tables, he always accepts!”

He turned beet red as Ashely laughed a deep laugh. We sat and talked for a good amount of time and I calmed down while we forged a comradery. I could see the beginning of a relationship budding in those two, neither would admit it though. Growing tired of sitting, we hopped up and decided to explore. We walked around the embassy getting familiar with some of the area. 

The building we were in housed some of the "Non-Council Embassies". Our wing was for the Human, Elcor, and Volus Embassies. What that really meant was all of those races each had an office and shared the common areas with everyone else who was in this building. 

Walking into the Elcor Ambassador's office, we tried to speak to them, on suggestion of Kaiden. The door opened up and we were standing in front of what looked like an elephant without ears or a trunk. The quadrupedal species were built like walking tanks. When they started to speak, their voice was low octaved and monotoned. The first one told us he was busy and didn't have time for us. He was quickly, for an elcor, chastised by the other Elcor in the room. 

A small pudgy Volus huffed as he said we probably wanted something. We apologized and politely left them to finish their conversation. My OmniTool pinged letting me know that it was time to head to the Council Chambers. The walk was quick and it was beautiful to see the merging of synthetic and natural design in the constant artificial sunlight.

  
  
  



	8. The Council

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Normandy crew has their first meeting with the leaders of the galaxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s a small chapter because I’m using the time stamps to pace myself, I hope they don’t make the story unenjoyable

**February 2, 2183 CE 1030 Hrs Citadel, Presidium Tower**

The doors to the Tower opened up to a large circular waiting area. It was the same silver alloy that the Citadel itself was made from. We crossed the room and started up to the next landing where we could hear a heated argument taking place. A Gray-Skinned Turian C-Sec Officer was begging a Maroon-Hued Turian for more time into what seemed to be an important investigation. He was completely rebuffed, told to drop all his investigations into the matter, and left to stand in anger as the Maroon Turian walked away. 

Noticing us walking up, the Gray Turian walked over to introduce himself. "Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec...I assume you're the ones from the 'Eden Prime Incident'?" He asked, as he offered a three fingered hand to me. I took his hand and gave him a firm shake and nod as I replied, "Lt. Comm Derek Shepard… This is Staff Lt. Kaiden Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Unfortunately we are the 'ones' from the incident. We're actually on our way to present our findings to the Council." The Turian's mandibles tightened against his face as he said, "I was sure I had something on Saren, but the Executor just told me to let it go and I was out of time." 

His hands tightened into a fist for a few seconds, then relaxed as he said, "Hopefully you have better luck than I did." I shook my head, "Probably not, but ya never know!" We parted ways and continued up towards the Session Platform. Getting to the final set of stairs, Anderson met us and pulled me aside, “Derek, I should kick your ass! Nothing but professional in here, no matter how much he baits you!!” I nodded and closed my eyes for a second as I replied, " I know, the office was just too much! I won't give him the satisfaction of saying this was my fault." He nodded and we walked back over to everyone else and took the stairs together. 

The Council was standing across from the Petitioner's Stage on an elevated platform. There was a lush looking garden under the glass floor between the stage and the Council Platform. Behind the podiums stood the three Council Members of each of the Council Races. The Turian Councilor, stood with his hard avian-like gaze fixed on me as soon we came into view. In the middle stood the Asari Councilor, her eyes roaming to each of ours to make eye contact and offer a small dip of her head and a small smile. Furthest to the right, the Salarian Councilor hadn't even acknowledged our presence as he was very busy studying his Omni Tool's display.

The Asari Councilor cleared her throat, and everyone who was around, stopped to pay attention. Her voice filled the Chambers as she said, "We are here to examine the petition to have, SpecTRe Saren Arterius, prosecuted and stripped of his SpecTRe status." Udina stepped up, "During a classified shakedown run of the SSV Normandy to Eden Prime to retrieve an unearthed Prothean Beacon, it was discovered that the colony had been overrun with Geth. While combing through the colony to find the beacon, SpecTRe Niluhs Krill was KIA by what we believe to be SpecTRe Agent Arterius." 

The Turian Councilor moved his hand and above the Council to the right of the podiums, a large projection of Saren himself sprang to life. He spoke and his metallic voice filled the Chamber, "Council, I find it preposterous that these charges have been insinuated. Nihlus… was a close friend." He turned to face us, and I’m 100% I saw a sneer across his face. The Turian Councilor, who seemed to be the most aggressive of the three asked, "What makes you all believe it was SpecTRe Arterius?” 

Anderson stepped up and told them of the eyewitness who saw it happen. The Salarian Councilor was the first to rebut, " We cannot go against one of our top operative on the word of a witness that you yourself were surprised by." Anderson got ready to say something else when Saren cut him off, "Ah, I should have known Humanity’s charges against me were brought on by David Anderson..." I don't know if the others saw it, but the faces of each of the Councilors turned to stone like they'd already made up their minds. 

There was a moment of silence that seemed to draw on for eons. The Asari Councilor turned to the Turian, him giving her a quick nod of disagreeance. When she turned to the Salarian, he also gave her a no and just like that we'd lost the case and were dismissed. Before Saren shimmered out of sight, I caught a wide smirk on his face as he stared me down.


	9. Barla Von

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets a game plan and heads to talk to an information broker

**February 2, 2183 CE 1138 Hrs Citadel, Presidium Tower**

  
  


Udina turned to face us all after we descended the first flight of stairs together and said to Anderson, "It was a mistake bringing you with us, knowing your history with him." He responded, "For once… shut up… we can fix this!" Over my shoulder, Ashley offered, "Maybe that Turian, Vakarian could help us? He said he just needed a little more time." 

Udina thought for a second, then responded, "Yes, maybe he could help! We just need to find him." "I know a few contacts that could help out," Anderson replied but before he could even finish getting the words out, Udina snapped back, "Oh no!! I want you as far away from this as possible. Fuck up and his squad will handle this, I dont want anyone saying you had a grudge." 

I wanted to launch his ass across the room. Knowing this was not the time, I kept my cool about his little jab and said, "Well besides that, what else do we know?" Udina told us to talk to Barla Von, a Volus in the banking district that was known to work for The Shadow Broker. Anderson explained that his contact’s name was Harkin. He said that he was probably in Clora's Den drinking himself under, but would be able to point us towards Vakarian. Being so close to the Banking District, that's where we headed first. 

Entering the Presidium branch of The Bank of Irune, we were greeted by the pudgy branch manager, "Ah, earth clan! How can I help you?" Taking a gamble and assuming this was the correct Volus, I replied, “Barla Von? We were sent to ask you about some information on Saren." He paused for a second, his mechanical and timed breathing the only sound in the room. Then he shook his head and replied, “Yes, this much I figured Commander Shepard...”

Behind me, Kaiden and Ashley both exchanged a look while pressed on. Eyebrow raised, I asked, "How do you know who I am?" Without missing a beat, he replied, "You already know I'm an information broker. Working for the Shadow Broker means I must know things most do not. Information usually isn't cheap, but consider this one on the house! I cannot give you much information on Saren but he has recently betrayed the Shadow Broker. In doing so it seems that he also turned a local bar owner, a human named Fist, as well. The Broker doesn't approve so he has hired a Krogan bounty hunter, Wrex, to kill him. He will be at the club, Clora’s Den, or in C-Sec if they've tried to stop him." We thanked him and decided to head to the club.


	10. Clora’s Den Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things always seem to happen to Shepard! Nothing a shower and some noodles can’t fix!

**February 2, 2183 CE 1600 Hrs Citadel, Presidium**

We took the rapid transit from the station outside the Volus' Office and reached the club in about an hour. Walking into the alleyway that the club was down, something didn’t feel right. Kaden and Ashley must have felt it too because nobody moved for a second. I put my hand on my pistol, ready to use it as we rounded the corner. Gunshots rang out as three Turians opened fire on us from across a wide opening that split the walkway of the alley.

Ashley picked off the first one with an awesome headshot as he peered over the railing they were crouched behind. Kaiden threw out a Lift at the one closest to us so I followed it with my Warp. His biotic field detonated, sending the assassin over the railing, screaming as he fell. The last one was easy pickings once all three of us focused on his position, he never stood a chance against our combined firepower. After taking a second to collect ourselves we continued towards the club. 

We entered the bar to find it teeming with life, like a firefight didn't just happen outside. The main room was dimly lit and oval in shape with tables and dancing alcoves surrounding a circular bar. There was a thick aroma of cigars and alcohol that greeted you as the Asari dancers twirled and gyrated on low tables in front of males of all species and some females as well.

Ashley let out a huff and said, “Halfway across the galaxy, and we end up in a club where men are drooling over women...” I chuckled at the hilarity of this being what she was exposed to on her first trip to the Citadel. Kaiden on the other hand, was standing there like a kid in a candy store. Ashley noticed and elbowed him in the side and said, “Eyes back in your head LT, I don’t see any purple anyway...” He turned bright red and just like that the Boy Scout was back with us.

We walked around the bar for a few minutes until we found our mark. He was in the back in a dark corner, the bottles on the table suggested he’d been here for a few hours. The C-Sec uniform he hadn’t even bothered to take off had ”Harkin“ in chrome letters on the lapel. 

“...Harkin?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. "Yea, who wants to know? " He mumbled back as he took another sip, like we weren't three heavily armed soldiers in front of him. 

"I'm Lt. Commander Derek Shepard." I replied, already getting a little annoyed. His eyes lit up as he said, "Oh, Andersons little pet? What brings you to see me?" I could feel my biotics in my fingertips as my hand balled into a fist. People used Anderson against me and I could tell it was only a matter of time before I was bathed in a cerulean aura. Kaiden must have felt it because he touched my arm and stepped forward, "Look, talking like that will only get you hurt. Anderson sent us because he said you'd be able to help us find Garrus Vakarian." 

Harkin looked at Kaiden, then at the snarl on my face and said dismissively, “Yea, yea...Vakarian is probably over with Dr Michel at her clinic in the wards." As we turned to walk away Harkin mumbled under his breath, "Hot stuff can stay though..." Faster than I thought was possible, Harkin had an assault rifle pointed at his chest. Ashley put her boot on his crotch and pressed down painfully as she growled, "Hot stuff has a bad temper, and she's about to paint the walls with you. Maybe you should watch how you talk to a fucking lady!" 

Eyes going wide he stuttered, "Hey! I was just joking! No need to go all blood rage on me!" We pulled Ashley off him and dragged her towards the door. She shook us off as we exited. Outside, she burst out into a howling laugh, “Did you guys see his face?” Kaiden, ever the boy scout, replied, “I thought you were really gonna do it!!” We both cut our eyes at him and shook our heads. “He deserved it, I’m just glad it was you not me, cuz I’m already running on bottled up emotions...” I told her as we walked back to the trams.

”I wanted to ask you about that. Are you and the captain related? You guys seem to have such a close bond,” She asked very innocently. I shrugged and explained how he wasn’t blood, but was all I had since Mindor. She nodded in understanding and we moved on, which surprised me! Most people wanted to make such a big deal of it, even people who already knew. The closest thing I have to a father almost didn’t come to my N7 ceremony because people thought he already showed me too much favoritism.

Once we got on the tram, I messaged Captain Anderson.

[Found Harkin, almost had to pay to redecorate| Lt. Comm D. Shepard N7]

[Really Son? Do you think that makes my head any better?| Cpt. D. Anderson N7]

[I was just gonna punch him, Ash was the one that was gonna paint the club with him lol... | Lt. Comm D. Shepard N7]

[Chief Williams!?!? Over what!! | Cpt. D. Anderson N7]

[Borderline sexual harassment... but its handled...we also talked to Barla Von | Lt. Comm D. Shepard N7]

[...We'll talk more in the morning, go check in at the Presidium Lounge Hotel, i got each of you a room... | Cpt. D. Anderson]

I closed my OmniTool and looked back at my waiting teammates as I said, “Anderson told us to go check into the hotel in the Presidium Lounge...so I guess, let’s get some food and head over?” They both shrugged and we turned back towards the wards market we passed through.

We found a little shop that served human food and got a few orders of their house noodle bowl to go. The tram ride was light but quiet, and after we checked in together we split into our separate rooms. The dresser had my personal Armor case, obviously brought up from the ship. I striped down to my BDUs and jumped into the shower. The water ran over my uniform, and I felt like I was washing all the negativity of the day away. After a few minutes, I took my uniform off as well and dumped it in the quick washer. I grabbed the MediGel and hopped back in the shower. After all the excitement of the day, I seemed to have forgotten that I was literally only hours out of a major shoulder accident. 

The gel hit my skin like ice, but as I rubbed it in, it felt amazing as the muscle released and healed the mini fractures. I stayed under the hot stream until i heard the wash complete. I dried quickly and put my BDUs back on before I grabbed my kit off the dresser. Food in one hand and armor kit in the other, I squatted on the floor in the center of the biggest pile of my suit. The fork was almost in my mouth when the door chimed.

The doorbell app on my OmniTool showed that it was Ash and Kaiden, both holding their food and armor packs with big grins on their faces. The door slid open and Ashley came in first, “I’m glad I’m not the only one in this pack who does this...” I chuckled, “It’s how I can tell who is a good marine and who isn’t...” We spent the rest of the night eating, cleaning, and becoming brothers.... and sister... in arms.


	11. Clora’s Den Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Garrus, Wrex, and Tali... Exit Fist lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I’m balancing the combat and the dialog well enough...

**February 3, 2183 CE 0800 Hrs Citadel, Presidium Ring**

The next morning we gathered everything to be sent back to the ship and checked out. I sent Anderson a quick message about our plans to keep him in the loop. Turning to my team, I said, “Ok guys, let's go find us a Turian...” The quick tram ride put us on the far end of Zakera Ward at a human run clinic this time. We walked up to the door calmly but cautiously. Ashley got ready to hit the haptic control to open the door but I stopped her. There was arguing going on inside from at least two voices. 

Pulling our pistols out, she hit the lock and opened the door. A poorly armored mercenary was screaming at a red-headed woman in a lab coat in the far corner of the room. Crouched down behind the dividing wall was Vakarian, unseen by both humans. He looked up as we came in and put a finger to his mouth. I nodded and we crept in, trained on the perp. 

The ruse almost work until the door auto-shut behind us, giving away our entry. The merc grappled Dr. Michel and spun her around himself as a shield as he said, “Shoulda known Garrus would send someone to check on his little special friend. Tell him to leave Fist alone or Michel gets it.” I raised my hands to show that I meant no harm but before I could say anything, Garrus popped up. 

“No, Garrus came himself! They were just a distraction,” he said as he stood up and lined up his shot. Crimson blood geisered against wall behind the pair as Garrus' almost inhuman headshot sent the thug in question to the floor dead with a hole where his eyes used to be. Dr. Michel screamed, more out of fear than because anything actually happened to her. She dove for the desk in the corner as more goons came from out of the back near the clean rooms. 

Seeing some of them trying to hide behind the huge crates in the corner, I launched a Shockwave throwing the crates and goons against the wall. Pinned by the heavy boxes, Ashley was able to take them both out with a few bursts from her assault rifle. I just barely caught a glimpse one of the goons in my peripheral and launched a strong Throw Field that caught him in the legs as he tried to duck back into cover. 

He flipped end over end, losing some of the momentum. His scream as he slammed into the edge of the crate he'd been trying to duck behind was enough for me. The last perp was behind a desk when he was engulfed in the powder blue corona of Kaiden's Slam. He rose in what seemed like a normal Lift Field, until he was about six feet off the ground. Then like a slingshot he was slammed to the ground with a very audible crunch of bones. The three of us secured the clinic as Garrus ran over to the woman huddled in the corner, and she welcomingly fell into his embrace. 

"Garrus, I don't know what I'd do without you," she whimpered out with a heavy accent. He nodded, and turn to us, "Glad for the backup, but what brings you here Commander?" "We actually came looking for you, but what were those thugs after, Doctor?" I asked her. "A few days ago, a Quarian came to me with a bullet wound to treat. She said she had information she wanted to trade the Shadow Broker, information on Saren and the Geth. I sent her to Fist! Barla Von contacted me later saying that Fist no longer worked for the Broker." she told us. 

"Looks like it's back to the club then," I huffed. We turned to leave and Garrus put a hand on my shoulder, "I know this is your case, but I really want to take Saren down, can I tag along? " He asked. With an aim like his, how could I say no? "Hey Ash, can you catch up with Anderson, there are a few things he wanted you to go over before we pushed back out.” I asked her. “If it keeps me from going back to that shitty club, hell yea, sir” Came her response. I chuckled and nodded and she was on her way.

We decided to take the long way back to the club, using that time to get to know Vakarian. He was older than Ashley, but younger than Kaiden and I. Garrus was just as lost in the sauce as the rest of us. As we passed the entrance to C-Sec, Kaiden reminded me about what Barla Von said about the Krogan, Wrex. We took the detour and were immediately rewarded as we stepped off the elevator. The large Krogan Battlemaster was standing in the middle of the common area arguing with a group C-Sec officers who had guns drawn on him. 

“Wrex!! Fist says you’ve made claims to kill him?” Came the voice of the lead officer. Wrex grumbled back, “They weren’t claims...I WILL kill him!!!” The officer spoke again, "If you go near him again, I'll have to drag you in… and I don't want to!" "Ha, I'd like to see you try," came his throaty chuckle. We stood off to the side, waiting for the confrontation to finish. He turned, caught sight of us, and walked away from the officers like it was nothing. "You look like you're either gonna be my next headache or my next adventure..." He said sizing the three of us up. 

"We're on our way to visit Fist, Barla Von seems to think you might want to be there too." I said unfazed by his glare. "I'm going to kill him, it might benefit you not to get in my way." He responded with a raised brow plate. "After I get the information I'm looking for, what happens to him isn’t my concern" I replied with a smirk. He looked me up and down once more, then put his hand out and said, "An enemy of my enemy is my friend!" I shook his hand, "Couldn't agree more, just let me get my info first ok?" He nodded and the four of us headed towards the club. 

Getting out of the tram I said, “I’m glad I don’t have to pay for the rides! I’d be pissed because I’m sick of coming to this boring ass club.” Garrus replied, “Yea.... This place is a dump!” Walking up to the door, Wrex stopped us and said, "I hear music, and nothing else… they're waiting for us." Pulling my shotgun out as everyone else armed themselves I was surprised when Wrex became bathed in an Amethyst Barrier. When my own Cerulean Barrier and Kaiden’s Powder one flared, Wrex looked at us and said, "Huh, three biotics and a Turian...this should be fun!" 

He lead the charge into the club and took the first guard out with his shotgun. I heard the bark of sniper rifle behind me as Garrus took out the merc on the top of the circular bar. He hopped on top, using it as his snipers nest. I felt the gravity change beside me as Kaiden sent out a Throw Field. So i followed it with a warp that detonated beside three more mercs. We worked around the circular club in a blaze of biotics, shotgun blasts, and the ever helpful sniper shot. After the club was secure, we all regrouped at the locked door to the back half of the club.

Garrus walked up to the lock, "Allow me?" I nodded as I said, "A sniper with hacking skills? Garrus… you might have just become one of my good friends!" As Garrus' OmniTool hacked the lock, Wrex said, "He's still a Turian… but at least he's got aim." Garrus looked back, his mandibles going slack, "We can't all charge into everything." Wrex let out a deep chuckle, "Damn right!" 

The lock turned to green and we readied our guns again. When he punched the lock, it opened up to a bare stockroom. Two mercs turned and saw the four heavily armed soldiers in front of them. Raising their hands in surrender one said, "F this, we don't get paid enough." We let them go and they ran out the door behind us. The group walked up to the office door Kaiden and Garrus on one side, Wrex and I on the other. Kaiden opened the door and Wrex turned to enter first. As soon as we all cleared the door frame, two automated turrets started shooting at us. Diving for cover I shouted, "Please tell me someone can overload those fucking turrets!" Kaiden and Garrus both activated overload programs on their OmniTools. Thirty seconds later there was a pop, and then two explosions. 

Coming out of cover, we found a large metal desk overturned. Fist popped up and shot twice in our direction, the shots going wide and missing us all. Gun still trained to where he was hiding I shouted, "Come out Fist, we wanna talk about the Quarian!" Still behind the desk he replied, "It's too late, she thinks she's meeting the Shadow Broker in fifteen minutes behind the markets." Wrex replied, "That's ridiculous, no one meets him directly! Even I was hired through another broker!” 

Thinking it was safe, Fist stood up and finished talking, "She didn't know that, Saren’s men are there waiting to kill her." "What the hell? Do you know anything else about her?" I demanded. He started stammering, "That's all I know!! Just let me go!!" In my peripheral, I saw Wrex looking at me. Giving him the slightest of nods, Fist's head exploded in front of us from a shotgun blast from the red Krogan. 

Kaiden and Garrus both gasped. Garrus shouted, "Wrex, NOW WE CAN'T INTERROGATE HIM!" I responded before Wrex could, "He didn't know shit, and Wrex had a contract to fulfill." A wide smirk spread across his face, “Shepard, me and you are gonna be good damn friends!" I walked over to the desk looking for any info I could find. One of the drawers had an OSD so I decided to download it. You never know when someone might need the information on it. 

Garrus and Kaiden were still standing wide mouthed when I rolled my eyes and said, "Get over it guys, he was a piece of crap. Let's get out of here and go save us a Quarian!" We walked back out of the office to more mercs waiting for us in the bar. They were quickly dispatched by our little ragtag group and we were out the door. We took off running through the back alleys trying to get to the back markets.

Turning down an alleyway, I saw a young Quarian standing by herself. She looked very nervous as she stood, obviously waiting for someone in her purple accented Enviro-Suit. A Turian with red clan markings walked up to her flanked by two Salarians, and they exchanged a few words. Suddenly the alley filled with smoke from a bomb she threw as she dove behind a crate. We ran down there to give her a hand and the Turian and two Salarians were dealt with almost like they didn't exist. 

After everyone was dealt with I walked over to the Quarian and asked. "Are you ok?" With a thick accent, she replied, "Fist set me up!!" Shrugging I replied, "That's what I’ve heard, but he’s already been dealt with. I'm trying to take down Saren Arterus and was told you may be able to help me." Her entire demeanor changed as she calmly replied, "Then there is a way to repay you for saving my life!" Garrus interjected before anything else could be said, "Maybe we should continue this in your embassy?" Nodding in agreement we all turned to head towards the Presidium Elevator. I grinned as I realized I had Kaiden, a Turian, a Quarian, and a Krogan in toe. Udina was gonna flip!


	12. Eden Prime, Was A Success!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Udina makes things happen, that much can be said.

**February 3, 2183 CE 1452 Hrs Citadel, Presidium Ring Human Embassies**

As soon as we cleared the door Udina was on my ass! "Can't stay out of trouble can you? Storming Clora's Den, a fire fight in the wards?! It's always the same with you huh?" He shouted. He was hopping mad and I was enjoying it a little more than I should have as he continued. "Then you bring half of the damn Citadel back with you," he said as he waived towards my assault team. He paused when he got to our Quarian friend and asked in the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard come out of the pissy little man, "And who are you young lady?" 

She stepped forward a little, rubbing her hands in a nervous fashion. "It's Tali'Zorah Nar Ryhaa..." “Ms Tali'Zorah why have you left the flotilla?" He asked. "I'm actually on my pilgrimage." She responded and then standing a little straighter she started her story, "All Quarians leave the flotilla on pilgrimage when they become of age. You're supposed to find yourself, and find something that will better Quarian life. I heard there were Geth outside the veil, so I was intrigued. I was able to find one separated from the others and disable it. That's when I found something in its memory core." 

Anderson stepped up, "I thought Geth fried their memory cores?" She responded without missing a beat, "They do, but if you're fast enough you can beat the charge and start the download before it melts." She playedthe recording and we all lit up as we heard Saren admitting that Eden Prime was a huge success. There was another, more feminine but still sinister voice who mentioned something about a Reaper. I felt a tingle in the back of my head, but kept it to myself. 

Udina was the first one to pipe up, "We got the bastard!! I'm going to get another meeting with the council." I had to give the troll bastard credit, because we were at our second meeting with the council within a few hours. They listened to Tali’Zorah and her evidence, and immediately made their decision. Saren Arterius was a wanted fugitive with orders to be brought in on sight. They listened to the part about the Reapers and tore that part to shreds. 

“That’s not good enough, send in the fleets after him,” pleaded a whiny Udina. Councilor Tevos spoke first, saying, “We cannot send in the fleet after one man...The Traverse is much too large, and we won’t risk a war with the Terminus. He will be found and brought in.” “There has to be another way! Securing the sector so that the colonies are protected!!” Came Udina’s plea. The Salarian Councilor looked at the Asari, who in turn looked at the Turian before Tevos spoke again, “There is another way......” 

She was cut off by Councilor Sparatus before she could finish, “Absolutely NOT!!! They are not ready!!” Udina sensing where this was going, a fraction of a second before us walked forward and said, “We’re more than ready! One ship could be discreet and with the powers of the SpecTRes, Commander Shepard would only answer and report to you!” They conferred between one another before they each stepped back to their respective podiums. Each counselor placed their hands on their podiums as Tevos said, “Derek Shepard, please step up.” They started the initiation, each adding a part of the SpecTRe’s mantra before they removed their hands. I felt a series of pulses in my OmniTool, alerting me to things I was receiving. After the production was over, I was sent to the SpecTRe requisition officer.


	13. SpecTRe Requisitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard finds out about the first perks of being in the exclusive SpecTRe club

**February 3, 2183 CE 1831 Hrs Citadel, C-Sec Basement, SpecTRe Requisition Office**

  
  
  


Walking in the office, it seemed more like a store. The walls were lined with racks of guns that were all way out of my budget. Armor cases lined the back wall, separated by species, including human. There was a jewelry case that held Bio-Amps, and on top were OmniTools. I walked up to the Turian sitting at the computer behind the desk. He tilted his head and said, “Good afternoon, is there anything in specific I can help you with?” 

I was still looking over all the stuff as I replied, “I was told to come see you?” His three fingered hand walked across the inputs of the computer in front of him as he said, “Well then… let’s see what requisition the Alliance has put in for you!” His hands froze, and his mandibles went slack as his eyes swung back up to me, “I’ll open the special stock for you, SpecTRe!”

Two of the walls spun around revealing even more high end stuff, including a new case containing Savant Bio-Amps and OmniTools. I was amazed at all the equipment, but I couldn’t afford any of it. The Turian seemed to notice my reluctance and said, “You’re a SpecTRe now! You will soon find yourself with versions of all this! I offer a great buyback program, so as long as your stuff isn’t crappy or banged up I’ll give you fair market prices on it. Now step up on the platform over there so I can get all your readings for your armor.” 

Stepping up, I told him, “I’m a biotic.” He shook his head, “Ah, so it was the Bio-Amps you were wide eyed over? What model do you have now?” I told him I had a Kassa Fabrication Polaris and he hummed in approval. His hands were typing away again as the beams rotated around me getting all my measurements. He reached into his drawer and pulled out an OmniTool. “I’m gonna hot-swap all your data from your current tool to this,” he said as a question more than a statement. I looked down at my current OmniTool and thought back all those years ago when Anderson first gave it to me. 

I must have fallen into a daze because I didn’t even see the Turian approach me. He paused and lean back on the front of the desk and said, “A lot of people come in with sentimental value on something, I have a keepsake box you can put your old one in, but as a SpecTRe you do have to switch to this style.” I nodded and that’s when I noticed he’d taken off his glove. His long, clawed finger slipped under the ring and hit the release and he put on the new one. I felt a ding on my wrist as it booted up. We went through some quick calibrations, then he initialized my amp with the new tool. He turned around and when he was facing me again he had a dermal gun. 

Loading it up, he pressed it into my opposite wrist and he said, “This model is a dual interface, trust me you’ll love it!!” I felt the woosh of something being put in my skin but almost just as fast he was moving on to the transfer. After that was finished, he handed me the box with my old tool in it and asked did I see gun I liked. ”I’ve had my eye on that Armageddon Shotgun for years!” I told him honestly. His subharmonics hummed in admiration as he said, “A shotgun? What an interesting choice for a Biotic? I thought the alliance usually used you all in support roles?” I shrugged, “Yea, they usually do, but I’m part of a new specialization class, they call us Biotic Vanguards!”

He nodded his head in approval, then walked over to the Kassa Fabrication wall and pulled an “Armageddon VII” off the wall. Walking over, he handed it to me, “Take this as a gift, I got a fringe feeling that you’re gonna put this to good use!” I looked down at the pristine case and wondered how right he probably was. There were a few more things he showed me as he walked me through some of the stuff I could do with the dual interface of my new tool. Leaving the basement, I was right at the elevator to the docking bay. My new shotgun and I rode up to the docking-bay where the Normandy was so I could put it away before I caught up with everyone else.


	14. Make Me Proud, Shepard!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard finds out, Anderson isn’t coming. New friends decide to tag along instead.

**February 3, 2183 CE 2034 Hrs Citadel, Alliance Docking-Bay, Normandy SR-1 Exterior**

  
  
  
  


The elevator door opened up to Anderson and Udina standing at the docking tube. I walked up cautiously because I’d never seen that troll outside of the Presidium, so I knew something was going on. Coming to a stop, I gave Anderson a salute that he returned. “Took you long enough to get here,” Udina said annoyingly. I stopped and crossed my arms as I said, “I’m sorry I kept you waiting princess, you should have comm’ed me! I would have walked slower!” Anderson rolled his eyes and said, “WOULD YOU TWO GIVE IT A REST!” I looked down feeling a little guilty, but Udina was unfazed. Anderson continued, “Moving on, Derek, I’m stepping down as Captain of the Normandy!” 

I went bug eyed as I stammered out, “We just got it and they’re already taking it from us?!” Udina was the one to reply, “Actually fuck-up, Papa Anderson is stepping down because you’re becoming the new Captain.” I shot him a dirty look because of the Papa comment, but turned to Anderson and asked, “What’s going on?” His face got strained as he said, “You’re a SpecTRe, you need a ship! The Normandy is fast, new, and stealthy! ...it’s perfect for your mission.” 

About to step forward, I caught the subtle shake of Anderson’s head so I stopped. Straightening up I replied, “Understood Captain, I won’t let you down!” I snapped off a hard salute as he said, “Make us all proud son, Humanity is watching Derek!” Udina took the opportunity to add, “Yes, please don’t fuck this up.” Having felt like he’d said enough Udina walked away and got on the elevator.

As soon as the door closed, I turned back to Anderson, “Dad? What’s going on?” He shook his head as his shoulders sagged, “Not now Derek, one day we’ll get drunk and I’ll explain the bullshit I just went through, but not now...” I didn’t like seeing him like this, but I knew he wasn’t gonna tell me until he was ready. Asking if there was anything I needed to know, he sent me a few files from his OmniTool. “If I were you, I wouldn’t waste time before I shipped out. Everybody is still on the crew, including Kaiden and Ashley.”

“Do you think I should see if those guys who helped us want to come too?” I asked. “It’s your ship now, and since you’re technically outside of Alliance Command, you can have whoever you want on your ship...” was his halfhearted response.

Not wanting to keep him in an awkward place, I walked up to him and hugged him as I told him, I wouldn’t let him down in his ear. He patted my back and said, “I know Derek, now let me go before I lose this facade.” He walked away head higher than normal, telling me something really fucked up happen. Leaning back against the crates behind me, I scrolled through my OmniTool until I got to Vakarian’s contact info. I sent him a message asking him to come to the docking bay. Finding Tali’Zorah’s and Wrex’s info as well, I sent them the same message. 

While I waited I finally looked at some of the files the Council sent me. The Therum dossier stuck out as the most important as I glanced over it. I also put in a call to order some equipment and rations for the non-Alliance members so if they decided to come, they wouldn’t starve. I was just finishing up with the clerk as they arrived. Closing my OmniTool, I heard the elevator door open to the three aliens walking out together to come over to the docking tube.

I shook each of their hands before I said, “Sooo, we’re shipping out to track down Saren. Do you guys want to tag along?” Wrex was the first one to speak up, “My contract on the Citadel is finished so I’m game as long as I get to shoot shit!” I chuckled and replied, “I’m sure we will not have a shortage of that!” He shrugged his massive shoulders and said, “Deal, for now..” 

“Good, now...that Shotgun...get with the Gunnery Chief, I want all of our guns to ruin lives like that!!” His grin grew enormously as he said, “You want me to start with that fancy new Armageddon behind you?” I shook my head as I handed it to him.

Turning to Vakarian I said, “You hacked the door of one of the Shadow Broker’s top agents, I need you and Alenko to keep us running smoothly! If you’re down to come?” He shrugged too, and said, “I’m sick of the bureaucratic bull here on the Citadel, plus a Turian should help you bring in that gizzard-sucking bastard, I’m down!” 

I nodded, but when I turned to Tali, she blurted out, “Oh Shepard! I don’t have anything to add to this excursion but if you let me come on this beautiful ship I’ll do whatever you need!!” I was a little sad because every Quarian I’ve dealt with has always been so apologetic for no reason.

“Tali, you’re the reason we’re even having this conversation! Don't EVER sell yourself short! You’re not a second class being! I do want to know what you’re good at though?” I said firmly. She started wringing her hands as she replied, “Well, I did study ships on the flotilla and I could help with that! Especially on a ship like this!” 

One of the things Anderson taught me when I started leading, was to pay attention to potential. It was as obvious as the glow of her face mask that she was being modest. “You wouldn’t happen to be a fan of a well built ship would you Miss Zorah?” I prodded. Her entire demeanor changed as she began to radiate confidence. Putting her hand on her hip, she said, “If you find a Quarian that doesn’t appreciate a beautiful ship like this? Take their face mask off and sneeze in their face!”

Wrex let out a booming laugh as Garrus and I stood wide eyed. I replied with a chuckle, “Well then! Report to the engine room, Adams will be able to find somewhere to fit you.” We all walked in together and after the decon finished, I pulled Kaiden out of the cockpit to show our friends where to go. Stepping up behind Jeff, I was getting ready to say something when his chair spun around and said, “Hey, I just want you to know commander… We're all ready and willing to go. It's not your fault they made Anderson step down." I nodded as I replied, “I’m gonna make him proud! You guys help me do that, and I’ll be forever indebted to you! I want to say something, so patch me into the shipwide comm.” 

I spent the next few minutes informing the crew of everything that happened, and what was expected of us. FInishing up, I told Joker to set a course for Therum.

Heading downstairs, I got my things out of my locker and pod and dragged it around to the Captain’s Room. Opening the door, I paused because it felt so wrong. Taking a deep breath I accepted it was already done and pulled everything in and took a look around. I sat at the desk, Anderson's desk, and read over the report on my data pad. 

**Dr. Liara T'Soni, Prothean archeologist. Daughter of Matriarch Benezia T'Soni. Affiliation Unknown. Last known location, Therum. She was working a dig site, probably alone.**

There wasn't much else in the dossier, except that Therum was an active volcanic planet. Mako use suggested. We wouldn't reach the planet before midday, so I told everyone to get a good night's rest and meet in the briefing room at 0800.

  
  



	15. Good Morning Normandy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick mission brief before they head down to retrieve Liara!

**February 4, 2183 CE 0755 Hrs Artemis Tau Cluster, Knossos, En-Route To Therum**

Surprisingly, everyone was on time and seated when I walked in. Looking around the room I locked eyes with a Human Biotic Sentinel, a Human Gunnery Chief, a Krogan Battlemaster, a Turian Sniper, and a Quarian Engineer. Protocol for the Alliance ran with ground teams made of three people. Everybody should go on our first mission, so I can get a feel for who worked well together. 

Sharing this with the gang, I barely heard the gruff from Ashley. Wrex's raised brow plate told me he heard it too, so it would be dealt with later. Once everyone was up to speed, I waited for comments and concerns. "How do we know she isn't working for her mother?" Ashley threw out, so I responded, "Most Asari aren't like humans. They go centuries without contact with their parents." Once she calmed back down, no one else had anything to say so I dismissed everyone to get ready.

Standing down in the Cargo Bay i watched the team as they got ready. Ashley and Kaiden were in the corner closest to the Weapons Bench, checking each others seals. I kind of figured those two would make a good team. Garrus was putting his scope on his sniper rifle, he looked up at me and silently nodded. Kaiden and I make a great biotic team, but I needed someone who would watch my back from a far and something told me it was probably gonna be Garrus. Tali was over by the Mako, wringing her hands like she had in the office. Wrex was in the corner closest to engineering, leaning against the wall. Seeing me watching everyone, he piped up, "Shepard, we getting this show on the road… or are you just gonna stare at us all."

That's when everyone noticed me, damn him for ruining my little observation time. "Ok guys, the Mako is tight, Wrex up front with me. When we get planetside I want Kaiden, Ashley, and Tali together. Garrus, I want you and Wrex with me." Once again, Ashley was the one to question, "Skipper, you sure?" I could tell that her question was more about our non-human companions, than what would work as a group. 

"Ash, you and Kaiden are a great team. Neither of you have very much experience with Geth, so Tali goes with you. Wrex and I are close combat specialist, so we need our Turian sniper to watch our six." I responded in my 'drop the subject' voice. We all climbed in and Joker dropped us four clicks back from the main dig site.


	16. Pulling The Varren’s Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Landing on Therum, they find out they’re not the only ones looking for Dr T’Soni! 
> 
> A/N: I won’t use the 3 man team of the games, I thought it was stupid... lol

**February 4, 2183 CE 1128 Hrs Therum Surface**

  


The thrusters slowed down our descent, but we still touched down with a hard thud. I grabbed the forward paddle and turned towards the blip on the holoscreen in front of my hand. As I was maneuvering around an open lava pit, a Geth dropship flew in overhead. It dropped a few Geth Primes and an Armature directly in our path. Slamming the forward paddle to its highest speed, I put both hands on the steering wheel. The Armature took its first shot at us and using the drop thrusters I propelled us up about ten feet, clearing the Geth blast with only a few inches to spare. 

The Mako landed hard on its front wheels pulling towards the left. I quickly corrected, much to the groans of the rear compartment and kept going. Wrex gripped the safety rail a little tighter as I said, “Ok, I know that was a little rough. Ashley get on that cannon. Garrus get the railgun. Kaiden and Tali, watch how much damage we take! I plan on driving this back into the cargo bay in one piece." 

The next twenty minutes were spent driving in circles dodging shots, and taking out Geth. When all the Primes were dealt with, all that was left was the Armature. It was square in front of a lava pit, so i gunned the engines and slammed into it. We were all thrown forward as the two machines met. The momentum was enough to send the Armature careening into the lava behind it!

I parked the Mako and jumped out of my seat saying, "Ok before we proceed, perform any repairs. I'm getting out to see if there is any salvageable equipment." Garrus spoke up with a Turian grin as he said, "You're a damn maniac Shepard!" Wrex popped out after me saying, "Hey Shepard! I'll help you, do we get to keep whatever we find?" I responded over my shoulder, "As long as you share any equipment that can help someone else, everything you find is yours big guy." He chuckled as he replied , "Shepard, I think I'll be sticking with you for a long time!" 

There ended up not being much, but we did collect enough that we were able to turn into OmniGel. Good thing, since by the time we returned to the Mako, the crew had used their reserves while repairing the damage from the battle. I split the recovered OmniGel between the four of them and hopped back into the driver's seat. Tali stuck her head in and asked, “Shepard, this time I'd like to keep my lunch in my stomach… If that's something you can manage.” I shrugged and replied, "No promises Tali! Never know when I'm gonna ram a Geth." She sighed as she got in followed by the rest of the gang.

As Kaiden got in he asked, "So is this what we're going to do Shepard, everytime you see a big Geth you’re gonna ram it?" Ashley followed in next saying, "What the hell is he gonna do if we catch up to that super dreadnought?" Kaiden chuckled, "From what I’ve seen in past experiences? He’ll find some way to throw a damn planet at it. Break every bone in his body, and still survive." 

They all got a good laugh at that one so I turned to face him, with the most "fuck you" face I could muster, and said, "You’re never gonna let that go huh?" He scrunched up his face in disgust as he replied, "Let it go?! You jumped down four stories to curb stomp a Krogan. You were in the infirmary for 26 weeks, THEY HAD TO REGROW YOUR ENTIRE LEFT FEMUR!" 

I huffed as I replied with an eye roll, "I would have just unloaded a clip into his face but he called my mother a Maw-fucking Pyjak! If I coulda gotten back up, I’d done it again!" Wrex looked over at me chuckling, "If only all humans had your quad!” As everyone got back in their assigned stations, an audible sound of clicking harnesses filled the machine.

Turning the machine towards our destination again, I set the forward paddle to a manageable speed. We were cruising along when the klaxon started blaring. Looking at the ladar screen, a missile was heading straight for us. I hit the drop thrusters again, clearing the missle to close for comfort. Wrex brought up the ladar on the screen in front of his seat, "Shepard, there’s three missile towers and a large collection of enemies ahead." I barely heard him as I took a hard right to miss the next missile. "Find me a way around this crap then!” I barked through gritted teeth. 

His large hands flew across the haptic inputs. "This is the main entry into the complex, but it looks like there is a small secondary entrance to the right. Better to circle around and pull the varren's tail, than rush into its maw right?" Nodding, I pulled sharp as I turned us into the narrow valley.

"Chief Williams! Missile tower you should be able to take out coming up at two o'clock." Wrex called back into the rear compartment. I heard the bark of the cannon, followed by her reply, "Neutralized, thanks Wrex." There were a few Geth troops in the way, I didn't even slow down for them. As each one popped up, I ran them over, enjoying their mechanical shrieks as they exploded. 

The valley opened up into first checkpoint of the compound and there were Geth everywhere with the Mako registering thirty Geth. I stopped hard, "Hey, let's take this on foot. Garrus, stay on the railgun and Ash, keep that cannon humming. Wrex, you and Tali take right. Kaiden, let's show the team why they put us together." Everyone nodded and jumped out. 

Wrex and Tali broke right and I heard their shotguns finding a steady rhythm very quickly. Kaiden took point and we headed left. The first two Geth we came up two were met with a Lift and two shotgun blasts exploding them in midair. We came up to three or four geth in a group, so I launched a Singularity into the center of them. As they all were sucked into the vortex, Kaiden shot a Warp blast directly in the center of my Singularity causing it to explode and send the Geth flying through the air in a fiery explosion. I could hear the Mako's steady bark of the main cannon and the "tat tat tat" of the railgun letting me know that Ashley and Garrus had found their battle rhythm as well. 

All three groups were making good headway when a loud explosion stopped Kaiden and I dead in our tracks. Tali came over the comm, "Hey, the green containers are explosive, let's finish the Bosh'tets so we can move on." Looking around I noticed the large amount of containers on the battlefield. Before I could even get off a shot, the railgun of the Mako started taking the containers out one-by-one. Each explosion took out another two or three Geth until there were only about five Geth who were outside of the blast radius of the containers near them. 

I ran towards one pumping shotgun shells into its chest, until i heard the metallic shriek of it dying. Looking over to the left I noticed another one floating in mid air, leaking what looked to be a silver metallic fluid from its head, the light extinguished. There were two more shotgun barks followed by shrieks, then one last bark of the cannon. My battle HUD buzzed then registered the area clear of hostiles. "Ok guys, all clear... Meet back at the Mako." I calmly spoke into the comm. 

  



	17. Driver’s Ed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds out that Derek is an effective leader in more ways than one. Driving isn’t one of them though

**February 4, 2183 CE 1448 Hrs Therum Surface**

  
  
  


Standing at the opening to the Mako, I couldn't help but smile as Tali and Wrex walked up. Wrex was covered in the metallic fluid seen leaking from the geth when they died. Tali, was none the worse then when we started. Holding her shotgun like a complete badass, there were no traces of the timid Quarian who’d been on the Citadel. Ashley popped out of the Mako, followed by Garrus.

He had a Turian grin so wide you could drive a truck through it. "Skipper that was intense, but Vakarian kept that gun whirling like a bat outta hell!" Ashley said through her own cheese eating grin. "I've never seen anyone keep a cannon on the brink of overheating without missing one shot like Williams here." Garrus retorted. I smiled to myself as I thought, they definitely could work together if need be. 

"Shepard! This little pyjak right here kept up with me so well. I didn't even need to pause to look back." Wrex said through gleaming red eyes. Tali quickly responded, "Well I had to stay on my toes! This big bosh'tet kept running head first into every Geth we took out!" I nodded, very pleased with myself that this first test of our team had gone so well. I definitely would have to put that in my message to Anderson when we debriefed. 

Looking around I noticed two sheds that flanked the first gate, and two more that flanked the second gate. "Ok Kaiden. You, Ashley, and Garrus go check the shed to the left of the main gate. Tali? Wrex? Let’s go check out the one on the right." 

Everyone nodded and headed out. As we neared the doors, Garrus came across the comm, "Watch your back! My visor just registered enemies in each of these sheds." Sure enough as soon as we stepped into the shed a Geth Prime rounded the corner. He didn't stand a chance against three shotguns fired directly at him. We stepped over it as the light on its head dimmed, then went dark. In the far corner, we found a weapons cache. 

Tali hacked the lock with ease and inside we found a few ammunition upgrades. Wrex pulled out the first one and his eyes lit up like a kid in the candy store. "Shepard, this is a Tungsten upgrade and I can apply this to all of our guns right here on site." I nodded, then radioed the other team to see what they had found. They also found a Geth waiting for them, and another cache. Theirs was filled with knick knacks and a spare Hydra battle armor, I told them to take what they wanted and to convert the rest into OmniGel. 

Five minutes later, we all met back at the Mako. "Hey, I can get this Tungsten Ammo Upgrade applied to at least one of everyones' guns in about twenty minutes," Wrex said. "Good, that's enough time to take a rest and regroup a little," I replied. "Hey, how bout I help you and we shave that time down to fifteen?" Ashley asked. Through a hearty chuckle Wrex replied, "If all human women are as handy as you Williams, I might have to reconsider my 'too soft to date' rule." Ashley looked at him with a smirk and they set off to the rear of the Mako to start the upgrades. 

I reached into the Mako and pulled out my container of field rations. Looking through the choices I pulled out something for everyone. Kaiden got the raspberry protein bar and lime electrolyte gel. He took the package with a frown, but opened it up and took a bite anyway. Tali got the green package, didn't know what it was but the clerk on the Citadel assured me it was a Quarian safe triple filtered nutrient paste. "Shepard, you brought Filtered Dextro Rations...for me??" She asked almost in a whisper that broke my heart.

"Of course I did! Tali, you’re Dextro and a quarian! While you are on the SSV Normandy, you are my crew, my team, my family, and my responsibility! I can’t have you go hungry because I didn't do my job!" I said with truthful conviction. She nodded and walked away with her head a little higher. I pulled out a blue package and headed towards Garrus next, "It's not the top of the line Dextro Rations, but the clerk assured me it was a favorite."

Garrus took the package, and tore the top off, "Hmm, thanks Shepard! This is actually a really good type. It's like the Dexro equivalent to Human’s granola bar." I nodded and moved on to the back of the Mako to deal with my last two customers.

I offered Ashley one of the raspberry protein bars. Grabbing it, she nodded and tore the package open to start munching one handed while she worked on Tali's shotgun. I turned to Wrex to make a small comment, "So, when I was talking to the store clerk. He said the problem with Krogans was the quantity, not quality." Chuckling with annoyance, he raised a brow at me and replied, "So I get a bunch of crap, while the Turian gets the good stuff?" 

"No Wrex, I got you some of the stuff that the clerk said another Krogan was buying. Just in case you don't like it, there is a bottle of Ryncol waiting on the ship for you to wash the taste out of your mouth when the mission is done!” He let out an approving hum as I handed him the three pouches of rations. Reading the packages, he said, "The runt at least had good taste. I'll still take that bottle though!" He let out a chuckle and clapped me on the back, almost knocking me over. "Trust me, i have a feeling after this mission we will all need a good drink. I got something for everyone!" I told him as i opened my own electrolyte gel, pomegranate flavored, and sucked it down. 

It was the consistency of Jello and tasted like the old earth sports-drink, Gatorade. Moving back to the front to let them finish in peace, I stopped by Tali, "Hey do me a favor and make sure the Mako is ready to move, here's some OmniGel just in case you need it." She shook her head in agreement and hopped back in the tank to start the repair protocols on her OmniTool. 

Putting my finger to my ear, I activated my comm, "Hey guys, while you finish your task, I’m gonna take Vakarian and Alenko to check out the other gate. Keep an ear out, but we should be fine." I got three positive responses, and saw Garrus and Kaiden waiting for me at the front of the tank. I pulled out my assault rifle, as did Garrus, as Kaiden pulled his pistol from its mount point on his suit. Taking point, I headed towards the closest shed and as we approached the door, Garrus came over the comm. "My visor is picking up one in the other shed, but this one is clear." 

We walked in to find only an empty weapons cache so we walked back out and crossed over to the other shed. I threw a grenade in to flush out the Geth who was hiding in the corner and it was met with an Overload courtesy of Garrus's OmniTool, and three shots from Kaiden. Walking around the corner, we found the gate control and a locked locker. Kaiden hacked the lock and inside we found another Hydra Armor Set. "Hey, let's keep this one intact, just in case the Dr. needs some armor." Kaiden says. I nodded my head in agreement and we set back out to the Mako. 

Tali, Wrex, and Ashley were putting all the equipment back in the Mako as we walked up. "Did you find any good shit, Shepard?" Wrex asked. "Naw, unless you can fit all that in this Armor Set?" I replied lifting the armor case. He chuckled, "Naw, too many roast Varren Leg! Maybe in a few months haha!" 

I shook my head then jumped back in the Mako and into the pilot seat. Everyone else followed and climbed into their stations, harnesses clicking in unison. Deadpanning I whispered, "Ok guys! I’m not that bad of a driver!!” Kaiden scrunched up his face, "You used drop thrusters to dodge enemy fire!"

"OMG Kaiden, let it gooo! You’re such a damn boy scout!!" I said as I turned around and huffed. Ashley started to laugh as I put the forward paddle to a nice speed, rolling through the gate and on towards the digsite.

It wasn't quiet for long, more Armatures started dropping and aiming for us. We took them out, without even using the drop thrusters! After they were taken care of, we continued forward driving up into a long tunnel. The tunnel had a few Geth standing around and I ran them over like they weren't even there. Coming to the end of the tunnel, I realized… it led back into another tunnel… with more Geth, that i also ran over.

As we came out of the last tunnel there was a clearing and then a rock formation that was just small enough I couldn't drive the Mako through. Stopping the truck, we all jumped out and got ready to walk through when Tali stopped us. "I can get the Mako through this!" She said very confidently. With a raised eyebrow I said, "If you can, by all means Madam Zorah, make it happen!" She got back in and we watched as she expertly used the drop thrusters to rock the truck onto its side and craw it through the narrow passage. 

When she got it through she hopped back out beaming with confidence. "Can I drive the rest of the way?" There was a resounding please, so I conceded and let her take the helm. To her credit, she was very skilled at driving! Most of her maneuvers to dodge oncoming attacks were a lot smoother than mine. After fighting through more Geth including a Geth Colossus, we parked. Getting out, we were standing in front of the opening to a cavern. 

  
  
  



	18. A Treasure in Azure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds Dr T’Soni, and Derek likes what he sees

**February 4, 2183 CE 1520 Hrs Therum Surface, Prothean Ruins Digsite**

  
  
  


Entering the portal to the dig site put us at the top of a dilapidated set of scaffolding stairs. We made our way down finding only a few pockets of Geth, but they were no match for all six of us. The ramps ended in front of a crappy looking elevator. “Is this even going to hold all of us?” Garrus asked as he looked at the piece of equipment. Wrex plucked him in the shoulder as he asked, “You trying to say something, Vakarian!” Tali, from the back of the group answered, “Garrus is afraid those pretty knee spurs are gonna get squished!” 

Garrus’s eyes went wide as his mandibles went slack. “Leave my spurs outta this Tali!” We all chuckled before we slowly entered the lift, one at a time. To say it was tight, was an understatement! “Chief! Your armor is very sturdy!” Kaiden said as he turned an inch to the left. Ashley chuckled, “Did you want me to strip, Alenko?” It was Kaiden’s turn to blush as he stammered about being impressed she could wear the heavy armor.

Just as I was praying we’d get to the bottom, the elevator ground to a halt, pitching us forward and out of the carriage. Standing up, I brushed myself off and looked around. We were on a sturdy platform, but nowhere near the bottom. I hopped down and waited for the team to follow. As we jumped down to the next platform, we found ruins that had been freshly exposed. They were made of a smooth white tile, polar opposite to the jagged red clay rock surrounding them. There was an active Barrier curtain over the opening and that's when I heard it. 

"HELLO!!! IS ANYONE OUT THERE!!!" came a soft muffled voice. Jumping down again, there was another opening also covered by a Barrier, but in this one there was an Asari suspended in what looked to be a Stasis bubble. Time froze for a second as I looked at the woman. I’d been attracted to Asari before, but this one was different. Her features were so soft and the markings above her eyes made her look even more human than normal Asari. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t immediately attracted to her, but I stomped it down as I walked closer.

She noticed us, and started struggling frantically as she said, "Oh by the goddess!! I thought you were those mercenaries coming to try and get me again!" I stood directly in front of the curtain, just in case she couldn't hear us as clear as we could hear her and said, "Are you Dr. Liara T'Soni??" She released a breath she probably didn't even realize she was holding and replied, "Yes, YES! I've been stuck here for four days. I was studying the ruins, and I think I pushed something I wasn’t supposed to… I’m… I’m so tired!" The woman visibly sagged against her invisible restraints as she finished.

Ashley piped up in a low whisper, "Shepard, are we sure we can trust her? She might have been studying the ruins for Benezia! Maybe she works for Saren also.” Seeming to find all of her spunk, Dr. T’Soni shouted, "I AM NOT MY MOTHER!!!" I turned to Ashley, wincing as I said, "Something tells me she doesnt like that idea?" Ashley raised an eyebrow and nodded as I turned back to the doctor and asked the trapped woman. "Dr. T'Soni, if I was to try to get you out, how would I do it?"

"I… I don't know? You’d have to find a way around the barrier curtain. I think the Stasis Field can only be shut down from this side." 

The whole time I was talking, the rest of the team had jumped down to the bottom of the ruins. Kaiden, Garrus, and Tali were over by this big hulking machine having a conversation in hushed tones. I cleared my throat, and that's when they noticed us looking at them. Garrus spoke up, "We think we can use this mining laser to cut under the ruins, but when we do it will likely destabilize this whole complex." Nodding in agreement, I responded. "Do it! We can get her and get out!"

After a few minutes, my three techies had the mining laser on and blasting through the rock. They were able to cut a hole big enough for everybody but Wrex to fit. He agreed to stay and keep Dr. T’Soni company, and protected, until we got to her. Slowly working our way through the hole, we came out in what looked like the ground floor of an elevator shaft. Carefully going over the controls, my head started to pound. Trying to get moving so I could close my eyes, I found what looked like the up and down control and summoned the elevator. We got on and as the elevator was rising, we heard the first tremor around us. 

When the elevator finally stopped, Dr. T’Soni was in front of us. Still suspended, she perked up, "You were able to get in!! That panel over there should release me!" Kaiden walked over and pressed a few buttons and the curtain dissipated followed by the Stasis bubble. She dropped to the ground, weak, but happy to be free. I walked over to help her up as Wrex came through the opening. There was another tremor as I asked, "Dr. T'Soni, do you think that elevator will take us back topside?” She responded, "It should, I think."

We all crowded back on the elevator and I hit the up button. "Commander? How do you know which button to push?" Ashley asked skeptically as the elevator rose. That was the first time I stopped and thought about it. I couldn't read the panel as I looked down at the indecipherable characters, but somehow I just knew which one was the right button. I felt a tingle building in the back of my head again, but it stayed very faint. 

Shaking it off I responded, "I don't know? Just luck I guess!?" Her eyebrow raised again, in what would come to be known as the "Williams Disapproval" but being the amazing soldier she was, she let it go. 

As the elevator stopped at the top floor, we were greeted by a Krogan Battlemaster and three Geth Primes. The Krogan spoke up, "Now this will be interesting! Either give her up, or don't! Then, it will get fun!" Letting out a huff, I responded, "We don't have time for this shit! Tali, protect the doctor! Everybody else, give them hell!!" Tali and Dr. T’Soni ran for the closet spot of cover they could find as the Geth started shooting at them. Wrex charged at the Battlemaster as Ashley gave him suppressing fire cover. Kaiden and Garrus took on the Primes closest to them as I went for the one shooting towards Tali. 

I threw a Warp Field at it and was pleasantly surprised as it detonated off a Singularity provided by the good doctor. It was enough to take out its shielding and with three quick pumps of my shotgun it was dead on the floor.

The other two Primes went down just as I turned around towards them, from dual Overloads from our two techs. Ashley was keeping the Krogan from regenerating when Wrex's right hand started to glow a dark amethyst. He biotically drove his fist through the eye crest of the Battlemaster sending him flying through the air, falling in a heap in the corner. The volcano around us trembled violently, just to remind us why we were in such a hurry. "Joker, GET US OUTTA HERE," I yelled into the comm. We all took off up the ramp to the exit as the walls around us started to crumble and break. Joker had the Normandy waiting for us, ramp open. One by one we all took leaps into the cargo hold. The ship pulled hard to towards the sky as the volcano below us erupted.


	19. I’ll Protect You Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr T’Soni introduces herself, and Derek gets his first shady request as Captain of the Normandy

**February 4, 2183 CE 1652 Hrs Therum Orbit, Normandy Shuttlebay**

  
  


Joker accelerated so fast that all of our Mag boots locked to the deck. Liara started to flail without her own boots. Thankfully, I was able to reach out a catch her so she didn’t go sailing across the cargo bay. There was a jolt of electricity between us and when I looked down, I saw blue eyes looking back at me, knowingly. Shaking out of it, I scolded lightly into my comm, "Joker! After you get out of the atmosphere, slow the hell down! You almost sent us all flying!" 

He replied over the ship comm, "Sorry guys, I was trying to outrun a volcano. I apologize if you almost fell on the floor. In the ship, that just escaped the volcano." Whatever moment we just had was lost as Liara went bug eyed, "We just almost died and he's making jokes!" I waved away the comment, "Yea, he's a dick, but he means well!" She looked away, almost in shame, "Oh, it must be a human thing." After an awkward silence, I made the announcement for everyone to get cleaned up and meet in the comm room for the debrief in forty five minutes. 

Touching my comm I said, "Hey Pressly, can I get you down here to get Dr. T'soni and take her up to the science room behind Dr. Chakwas?" A quick second later Pressly responded, "Aye Commander, I’m on my way!" Seeing everybody else over by the lockers taking off their armor, I turned to Dr. T'soni, "Dr! Executive Officer Charles Pressly is coming down to show you to a place where you can get yourself together. I’d like you to be in our mission debrief in forty five minutes as well!" She nodded and responded, "Thank you Commander. I will be there."

I walked away and headed into the elevator with a little more swagger than necessary. Reaching the crew deck, I turned and walked into my cabin. One of the only plus sides of the job was the personal shower! I stripped off my armor, leaving the pieces scattered where they landed. Walking across the room I stripped out of my undersuit, grabbed a clean set of BDU's, and got into the shower. 

Once I was clean, I headed up to the comm room. I noticed that an extra chair had been added, showing that someone was definitely on the ball. Activating my comm I asked, "Hey Joker, are we near a comm buoy?"

"Sure are Commander, wanna link in?" he asked. I activated my OmniTool's secure transmission link and responded, "Sending transmission codes, let me know when the council has responded." "Got it Commander!" came his quick, but respectful response. 

About five minutes later, I heard the ding letting me know the call was active. I stepped up to the podium as the holograms of the council members popped up. Councilor Valern was the first to speak, "Ah! I see the mission to the Artemis Tau was a success?" I nodded and then Councilor Tevos added, "It also states, Dr. T'Soni is aboard the Normandy?" 

"Yes Councilor, she was in a bad place. From my initial interrogation, I believe she has no knowledge of her mother's whereabouts or motives." 

Tevos and Valern both shook their head in acceptance as Sparatus stood tight-mandabled. He looked at the others before he began his tirade, "I believe, you believe, she is not a threat! That doesn't make it so. Your species has only been dealing with the Galactic population for a very small time, how do you know what is normal body language or the tell of a liar? Benezia's daughter is older than you times five, that's a long time to learn to hide motives..." he paused, his eyes the only give away to the fact that his comment was a jab at Tevos. She cleared her throat, but made no other acknowledgement of his words. He continued, "On top of that, was the destruction of Prothean ruins necessary? That seems to be a calling card of Commander Shepard!” 

Tevos cut him off saying, "That's enough! It was unfortunate, but from the reports, unavoidable. Commander Shepard did what was needed to secure his teams extraction." Spartalus huffed but did not speak any longer. Valern spoke next, "Good job Commander, continue on your mission and we will forward anything that comes to our attention." I nodded my head as each of the councilors dipped their own heads forward before fizzling out. "Hey Commander, next time we talk to them, you should hang up!" Joker quipped across the comm. Chuckling, I responded, "Spartalus would have my head Joker!" "Just a thought!" came his reply before the comm went silent. 

As I was laughing to myself, everyone started to filter in. Once everyone was seated I began, "Well, it seems we've added another person to the crew. Guys, this is Dr. Liara T'Soni… umm, doctor… we don't know much about you. Care to fill in the blanks." She kinda stammered, "Well, I hate to disappoint but I’m very boring. I'm an archeologist who received my doctorate from the University Of Serrice. I specialize in Prothean culture and extinction. Unfortunately, most of my work has gone unnoticed by others in the field," she dipped her head in shame as she continued, "since I’m only 106 people tend to disregard my findings." 

Ashley piped up, "Damn! 106! I hope I look that good when i get that old!" Liara dipped her head again, "I know for a short lived species as yourselves, 106 seems old, but by Asari standards I’m barely more than a child." 

With a little lull in the conversation I added, "I have my own theory on Prothean extinction." She cut across me, "No offense Commander but I have heard, almost all the theories, and the problem is that it is hard to find evidence to support any of it. It's almost like someone went through and purged the galaxy of all clues. My research shows they were at the pinnacle of galactic dominance when they were cast down, but they were not the first. The Protheans built up off the ruins of the Inusannon who came before them. There is something of a pattern, but I just haven't found the evidence to support it. It's just something I’ve got a feeling about from fifty years of research." 

Not wanting to ruin her speech I waited until she was completely finished before I said, "I believe the Protheans were wiped out by a race of machines called the Reapers." Her face markings that resemble eyebrows shot up as she stammered, "Reapers! I've never heard of these machines, what proof do you have?" There was a little bit of annoyance in her voice but I paid no attention as I replied, "There was a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime that pushed a vision into my head that I can barely understand, and Tali'Zorah found proof the Geth worship them and are trying to bring them back."

Her eyes lit up like a candy store as she said, "A working beacon! I'd love to see it, to find a working one is remarkable!!!" Wincing, I explained, "Actually, after it gave me the vision, it exploded! So there is nothing to show you." She bowed her head as she responded, "Ah, I see! There is another way! We can join our minds. With my knowledge of Prothean civilization I might be able to clear some of the vision?" I could tell there was scientific curiosity in her voice, but I also wanted to clear this shit up! If she could, I was down. Before i could agree, Kaiden blurted out, "Shepard, are you sure that's a great idea?" Ashley shook her head in agreeance. 

I sighed, "Kai, i know you dont have alot of experience with Asari, but there is nothing wrong with the meld. It's very common, and I’d hope that Dr. T'Soni knows what she is doing." That seemed to satisfy the soldier in both of them, so I turned to the doctor, "Go ahead Dr. T'Soni." 

She stepped up to me, "Please, call me Liara! Dr. T'Soni is so formal." She placed her hands on mine and began, "Commander, calm yourself! 

... **Embrace Eternity**!!" 

I felt her gently push into my mind. Liara's presence in my consciousness was very soft, almost as if she was afraid to be there. Having been with a few Asari before I knew she could sense how I felt about our shared connection. I felt her searching and then like getting hit by a train, the images of the beacon activated and we both were assaulted by the replay of the Vision. This time I was more prepared and I was able to steel myself to the onslaught. 

I felt Liara, shrink back away from the images, and for lack of better words, cling to me. It was still just as gruesome but with Liara's knowledge also processing it, some of the images were clearer. I was able to make out the actual battle, but still not able to truly see what the Protheans look like. I saw the shape of the reapers, but couldn't make out the details of the ships. Almost as fast as it started, it was done. I could feel Liara struggling to keep the link, then I felt her slowly withdraw and we were standing back in the comm room of the normandy. 

We were eye to eye for a second before she pulled back. Breathing hard she said, "By the goddess!! That was so intense!!! Commander, I’m surprised you were able to comprehend anything and survive! A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed." 

I chuckled, "Hhmm, trust me! This has not been completely pleasant.” She was about to respond when she swayed and almost fell. "Liara, are you ok?" I asked stepping forward to catch her, taking note of the fact this was the third time we were staring into each other’s eyes. Looking down, I felt I could drown in the pools of blue water staring back.

Snapping back to reality, Liara said, "Yes, yes, it is just draining to meld, and that was a lot more than a regular meld. Coupled with seeing the actual demise of the Protheans, I think I just need to rest for a minute." I nodded, then dismissed the crew, with directions for Chakwas to check out Liara when she came down.

I made my way out of the comm room and stepped up to the galaxy map. Joker came over the comm before I could plot a course, "Hey Commander? We got an incoming transmission, secure channel, unknown source." I frowned, "Patch it through Joker." I heard the comm in my ear switch channels and a feminie voice spoke, "Commander Shepard, my name is Nassana Dantius. I'm a diplomat on the Citadel and I need to speak with you about something. Something I think only you can help me with!" 

I rolled my eyes, "Ms Dantius, I don't know what you’ve heard about me, but I’m not a merc for hire!" Coolly she replied, "And I nowhere think that Commander, but I need help and I’d hope you'd be able to help me. The next time you are at the Citadel, please, just come find me in the Embassies and I’ll fully explain my problem." 

"It might be a little while, but I will message you the next time I’m on the Citadel Ms Dantius." 

"Thank you Commander, and be with the Goddess!!" The comm died, and I had a bad feeling, but I shook it off and plotted a course for the Attican Beta Cluster. 

As I turned to walk off the podium, Wrex was waiting for me against the marquee wall, "Hey, Shepard. I know we have a mission, and I know you don't plan on running this ship like a merc. But, we are here, might as well scour this system before we bug out! We might find something of good use?" 

I thought about what he said, and then nodded in agreement before turning back around to the Map, "Joker, Pressly, Swap the plotted course to secondary plot and lets burn towards the closest planet to the star in this system!” I heard the response of my navigator and pilot and saw the Normandy on the galaxy map swing towards Phaistos.

  
  
  
  
  



	20. A Little Merc Ain’t Hurt Nobody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SSV Normandy has quite a few hidden talents, Derek wants to explore them!
> 
> A/N: Everybody has to have down time between missions! This is the last chapter before Feros

**February 4, 2183 CE 1936 Hrs Phaistos Orbit**

  
  
  


In the three hours it took to get to the planet, I spent most of it in my cabin going over the specs of the Normandy again. The ship was initially supposed to be a special reconnaissance ship. It seemed the ship was going to be very well suited to do what Wrex suggested. On approach, I headed to the cockpit. Kicking Kaiden out of the co-pilot seat, I sat down and started going through the sub menus until I found the scanner menu. The Scanner ran across the surface of the planet as Joker piloted in orbit. After a few hours of not finding anything I told him to head towards Zakros. Knowing we had at least ten hours until we got planetside, I left him in the cockpit to go check on the crew.

I figured I’d check in on everyone, so I started down in the bottom with Tali. Walking into Engineering, I paused, looking at the drive core and its beauty. Shaking my head to draw me back to what I was going to do, I walked over to the Assistant Engineer’s station where Tali was standing. "Miss Zorah! How are you settling in?" I asked her. 

She turned, eyes getting brighter as she responded, "Commander! This ship is amazing!!! I didn't know humans were so advanced!" I chuckled, "Tali, I was just joking, you don't have to be formal. Shepard or Derek is fine! This isn't just a Human ship, it was co-developed with the Turians." She shook her head, "I see! Well, I never thought I would see a drive core this large in a ship so small!!! I'd love to study this core more in depth!!" 

Turning to stare at the core as I thought, I decided, why not? "Tali, I’ll talk to Engineer Adams and get you the security clearance so that you can be shown some of the more sensitive parts of the ship design!" I heard her stutter, then she spoke, clearly holding back emotions. "Sheppp! Shep… Shepard… I… Oh Keelah!! Thank YOU!!!" She closed the gap between us, and hugged me. I hugged her back then told her I would talk to her later. I could almost hear the cheer in her voice as I walked over to Chief Engineer Adams. 

"Hey Adams, you got a minute?" I asked in a low tone so no one else could hear me. "Of course Commander, actually I wanted to talk to you anyway." He responded. I asked him what was on his mind when he asked for permission to speak freely. 

"You know that Quarian you brought along? Tali'Zorah?" 

My heart stopped a little thinking I had jumped the gun with her. "Yeah, what’s the matter Chief?" I asked dreading his response. He turned to her, then back to me, "Actually, nothing is the matter. I just wanted to tell you good job on bringing her on! She's great with propulsion system, and her understanding of drive discharge puts all of the other staff to shame. If she was Alliance, I'd be afraid she could take my job!" 

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and replied, "Oh, that's great actually! Look, Greg, I’m trying to build this team as best as I can and I realized on the mission to find Dr. T'Soni there's a knack for tech there in that girl." He nodded, with a smile on his face, "Yep! With your blessing I’d love to show her more?" I stole a glance back at her while replying, "I was coming to you to see how you felt about giving her full Alliance clearance? If you think she can make it better, I want her to know everything!!" 

Grinning ear to ear, "Hell, I already have her at the Assistant Lead Engineer position! You’re gonna have two Chief Engineers within a month!" I chuckled, looked over at Tali and gave her the thumbs up as I walked back into the Cargo Bay. I stopped to chat with Wrex, but I ended up making an ass of myself. He said he wasn't offended, but I still felt fucked up when we finished talking. 

My conversation with Ashley was mostly quelling her xenophobia, but I knew I could win her over, she just needed some time. As long as she kept it cordial with the crew, I didn't care how she felt in private. My conversation with Garrus was an interesting one. There was a lot of pent up anger about his old job, but there was some room for molding him into a great leader. Something about the talk just let me know, this guy was gonna have my six for a long time.

I was heading back up to my cabin when Joker told me over the comm that passive scans found a mineral deposit in the asteroid field we were passing through. We stopped long enough for Adams to send out a team to process the deposit of Platinum. Finishing up with that we arrived at Armeni on schedule. There wasn't anything on that planet but we found the remains of an abandoned Salarian fighter in the next asteroid field we passed through. 

Sending Tali and Liara with the team we found a Medallion for the League of One. Liara asked if we had a catalog of things we found. When she found out we didn’t, she volunteered, so I put her in charge of that. The system was pretty much dead after that except for another mineral deposit on the last planet. After we wrapped that up, I had Joker point us towards the Attican Beta Cluster. For twenty four hours spent in the system, I was happy with our finds.

Joker sent me a timeline of how long it would take to get there, a little over a week with all the jumps we needed to perform. I looked over the course plot one more time, then peeled off my uniform, took a shower and went to sleep. After two hours of solid sleep i started to dream. I was in back on Mindoir, in my full battle armor. Running for my life, I could see forms I couldn't completely make out fighting back against something behind me. 

Afraid to turn around, I kept running but no matter how hard I ran, the screams seemed to always be right over my shoulders. Finally I turned around, bathed in my cerulean corona ready for a fight and I was greeted by a Reaper off in the distance. The world around me started to melt into the red tinged vison of the beacon as I felt myself being ripped apart by an unknown weapon. I woke up dripping sweat, looking around ready for a fight. The clock on the wall read six hours had passed since I went to sleep. We were still in the sleep cycle of the ship, so I fell back into the pillows and stared at the ceiling until my alarm went off letting me know it was morning. 

Getting up, I pulled on some fresh BDUs and walked out to the mess hall to get some breakfast. Kaiden was working at a panel beside the galley, so while my breakfast heated up I walked over to have a conversation with him. 

It had been a long time since we talked and it was good to catch up with a friend. I heard the warming range beep so I excused myself and took my breakfast back to my cabin to work on paperwork. Having only been a few weeks total since I first stepped on to the Normandy, I was surprised by the amount of paperwork that had piled up. It took almost five hours to finish it all but by lunchtime I could say I was caught up. I left out the cabin and wandered the ship for a while before i sat down with the crew and enjoyed lunch. 

The rest of the week went by without any fanfare as I took the time to get to know the crew a little better, and test the IES system when we could. As we plotted approach vectors for the last relay jump, Joker announced an incoming call from Rear Admiral Hackett. He explained that he had an assignment he wanted me to handle in the Hercules system we were getting ready to jump into. 

When he felt the need to remind me that I was an Alliance soldier before I became a Spectre, I made the decision to handle it AFTER I left Feros. We completed the jump into the system and set a course for the relay that linked to the system that Feros was in. Twelve hours later we were in orbit around Zhu's Hope waiting for the docking instructions.

  
  
  
  



	21. The Candy Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What could possible go wrong on a human controlled planet full of Prothean ruins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feros.... I did some character development and some back and forth that shows the growth as a team, I know my writing style isn’t the best, but hopefully if you’re reading this. You’re still enjoying it!

**February 13, 2183 CE 0846 Hrs Feros Planetside, Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  
  


When we finally docked, I announced I was taking Liara and Wrex with me before handing command over to Pressly. We walked into the airlock and after the decon ran, stepped into the docking area where someone was waiting to greet us. As we moved towards him, not even ten steps in, a Geth rocket hit the man square in the back. 

He exploded, showering the dock with Human remains. I took off for the nearest cover spot I could find, with Liara and Wrex doing the same. Hitting the comm I told Liara to let Wrex and I take the lead and for her to support us as much as she could. When I looked back, she gave me a quick nod of agreement. Turning to Wrex, his grin got as wide as a train after I gave him the go ahead.

He pulled out of cover and blasted the first Geth with his shotgun in such a close range that there was nothing but shards of metal flying back into the next few Geth. I felt biotic energy pass over my shoulder as Liara sent out a Singularity into group of machines clustered in front of us. Before Wrex could get to them, I threw a Warp Field that detonated Liara's field sending Geth flying in all directions. Two of the thrown Geth found gun blast from Wrex, while another one met the business end of my own shotgun. Liara was able to take the last one out from cover with steady fire from the pistol Ashley lent her. 

We continued to work our way into the tower and down into the port with a steady flow of Biotics and shotgun blast. Coming out into a large opening, my HUD registered all hostiles down. We stopped to catch our breath and take stock of ourselves. Wrex was covered in hydraulic fluid, I lost one of my gauntlets, and Liara had one of her shoulder guards blown off, but we were fine.

Looking around, the landing we were on seemed to be sturdy. All around us, there were signs of crumbling rock and it seemed we were in some kind of tower that lead down into the port. While I was looking around, I heard a squeal come across the comm. Wheeling around, gun drawn, I found Liara running her hand across an inscription on the wall. She must have felt eyes on her because she slowly turned around head hung low, "...you guys heard that didnt you…”

Sighing very audibly, I started to chuckle, "Yea, but it's my fault! The reason I brought you was because Feros is actually built on Prothean ruins. I guess you just figured that out?” She shook her head and behind me Wrex let out a chuckle of his own as he said, "Shepard, you literally brought the kid to the candy store? No offence T'Soni!" She looked confused so I explained the saying which just made her hang her head lower, "I hope that I have not made too much of a fool of myself..." 

Wrex walked over to her and with surprising gentleness, he put a hand on her shoulder, "Never apologize for your passion! Just next time try not to get so excited while were still in danger of getting shot?" His words seem to perk her back up because her shoulders squared, she drew her gun and stood waiting for orders. Wrex and I turned around we started down the next set of stairs.


	22. The Invasion of The Body Snatchers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The colonist are odd, and Shepard and crew will find out soon enough

**February 13, 2183 CE 0902 Hrs Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  
  


The passageway opened up into what looked to be the actual port and there was evidence of heavy fighting everywhere. We walked towards the barricade set up a few feet back and were greeted by two security guards in very light armor who looked very worn down. The first one spoke, "Are you from the ship that just landed?" I nodded and the second one started to speak with a lot more annoyance in his voice, "How'd you get through all the Geth in the tower?" Before I could answer Wrex supplied, "We killed them! How the hell else would we have gotten here?" 

The second guard narrowed his eyes, and Wrex just rumbled in response. Guard number one spoke again, trying to defuse the situation before it got worse, "Look, were just all on edge! We’ve been battling Geth for three weeks straight… we’re, we’re just worn down..." I patted him on the shoulder, "Y’all have done a great job! I saw them cut an entire marine platoon to shreds. Right now I need to get with your leader so I can discuss some things, where can i find them?" He pointed through the shipping containers that had been repurposed and said the leader, Fai Dai, was on the other side. 

There were very few people standing around as we walked through the area and the ones we did meet were, odd. I wrote it off as them being scared and kept moving. We finally got to another barricade that seemed to be facing into another tower. There was an older man of Asian heritage standing with a stern looking blond woman. I walked up hand extended, "Fai Dai? I'm Commander Shepard Alliance Navy." 

He smiled tightly and took my hand in a firm shake as he replied, "Yes, I am Fai Dai. Welcome to what is left of Zhu's Hope." The blonde made a scoffing noise as she turned her head dismissively, "Bout time they send someone to check on us..." I raised my eyebrow as I turned to her and said, "And what exactly are we checking on?" She huffed her angry reply, "The Geth problem you had to fight past to get here asshole!” I was about to say something, when Fai Dai cut in, "Arcelia!! Stop being rude! It’s not their fault and they are obviously here to help!!" She deflated quickly and I still wanted to let her have it, but I let it go. 

Turning to face Fai Dan so she knew I was done speaking to her, "Do you have an office that we can go talk… privately in?" He shook his head and motioned towards another prefab. I followed him after telling Wrex to stay help stand guard with Arcelia. Liara was looking a little lost when I stopped and told her she was coming with me. Walking into the office, I noticed that Fai Dan was acting just as… weird… as the other colonists around the port. Sitting down, he told me what he knew about the Geth attack. 

It seemed when certain topics were brought up, he clammed up. I wanted to push it further, but Wrex came across the comm at the same moment we started hearing gunfire and explosions. Running back out, we found him and that Arcelia woman fighting back a wave of Geth trying to get in. The combined firepower of all five of us pushed them back into the tower. 

Slinging my shotgun back onto its mounting point I told them, “Look, you guys are worn down! My team and I will go and secure this tower. I'll have the rest of my crew come down and support you guys while my doctor helps get you back on your feet.” There was a sideways glance between the two sketchy colonist before they nodded in agreement.


	23. Krogan Blood Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhu’s Hope is in a rough spot, the team starts helping where they can

**February 13, 2183 CE 1010 Hrs Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  


Setting off, Wrex took point with Liara and I bringing up the rear. After turning the first corner our combat scanners went dead. Liara piped up from behind me, “Ummm, what just happened?” On queue, there was a metallic screech followed by the sounds of mechanical gyros whining. I swung my focus around and caught a Geth form jumping to a new location. This one was different than the ones we’d encountered before. It’s body was very flexible, almost organic as it jumped from wall to wall. Somehow, it clung to the walls before jumping to a new location. When it stopped, a red light from its head, sighted us down. A sniper shot rang out that just barely missed us.

”Wrex, Upper floor! Pull that son of bitch down!!” I called into the comm. The Geth tried to dodge the incoming amethyst field, but was too slow. Three pumps of my shotgun, and we had scanners again. Pushing forward, we climbed a couple of sets of stairs, all three of us on high alert. When we came to an intersection we stopped to take in the surroundings. On our right sat a long hallway and in front of us was room that seemed to curve around the tower. 

I took point as we entered the curving room, staying low and walking slow until the gunfire started. Liara shot a Singularity out towards the firing Geth, so I followed with a Warp sending the three Geth troops flying from the explosion. The Geth turrets tried to stop us but they were no match for the Warps that the three of us hurled at them. Wrex took off towards a white colored Geth realizing too late that it was equipped with a rocket. 

He was able to dive and miss the brunt of the missile, but he was on the ground, and definitely hurt. I took off towards him, “Liara, cover me while I get to Wrex!” She replied with a ‘Yes Commander’ as she switched guns and then the suppressing fire of an assault rifle followed. Taking a running start, I slid into cover where Wrex had pulled himself. I activated the MediGel I had, moving my OmniTool over his large body to spread the application. His eyes flew back open, pupils dilated, and I could tell his blood rage had taken over. 

“Now I'm pissed, cover me!” He roared as he jumped up and started charging at the closest Geth. Liara and I gave him suppressing fire while he ran headlong towards the Geth that were left, each one meeting his head crest with a sickening crunch of metal and a sharp shriek as they fell dead. 

There was one Geth that remained, huge and red like the one I'd crushed my shoulder on. Wrex ran for it, but this Geth started running towards him as well. They met with a solid crunch, Geth metal and Krogan armor both splintering. Wrex reared back and rammed his head into the flashlight of the Geth. It stumbled back long enough for Wrex to pull his shotgun and lay on the trigger till the overheat warning was blaring. 

The Geth staggered, trying to find its balance with it's body riddled with large holes. Wrex’s corona flared to life around him as he delivered one more headbutt, sending the hulking Geth flying into the wall behind it. The light on its head slowly died and it fell out of the crater left by its body.

Wrex staggered himself before he slumped down, “Damn that was fun!” Liara shook her head as I chuckled and responded, “Krogan blood rage is an awesome thing! Now you're going to rest and I'm calling the rest of the crew down.” I turned away and activated my comm. “Pressly? Send Tali, Garrus, Kaiden, Ashley and Chawkwas! Full armor and medical equipment.” Liara and I helped Wrex back to the port, slowly. Fai Dan and the rest of the crew was waiting by the time we walked back out of the tower. 

“Karen, do me a favor and get our lovely battlemaster back up to 100% please!” I asked. She nodded as she turned and asked for somewhere to set up. Arcelia walked away to one of the prefabs to get them an area straight. Fai Dan spoke up, “Thank you Commander, with the tower cleared up all we’ll have to worry about is dealing with the problems down in the sewers and we should be able to start fighting at full strength again.” 

“What's going on? I have my whole team so we might as well get some other stuff straight. We can't do much else until we rest up anyway!” I said feeling a little fatigued. Going back to his office, we started talking about what had been going on. After we got a game plan, I went back out to the team


	24. The Sewer Escapades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feros has a lot of little missions, Shepard just wants to get it all done

**February 13, 2183 CE 1100 Hrs Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  


“Ok guys, we're gonna help out around here for a while and hit the ground running tomorrow. Alenko, help Chakwas however she needs. Williams, get with Arcelia and shore up some of the choke points. Wrex! Please just get better, I need you tomorrow! Garrus, Tali and Liara, we’re going down into these damn tunnels and see what trouble we can get into!” 

Everyone nodded and headed in their respective directions. I turned to walk away when I felt the three-fingered hand of our Quarian on my arm, “Hey Shepard? My suit is designed to test air quality to make sure the air won't cause ruptures to our suits. It is picking up some exotic spores in the air… None of these colonists seem to be affected but you all might want to switch to recycle until I can get a firm reading on this.” 

I smiled, “Thanks for the heads up Tali! Let me know what you find?” I switched to the private comm, “Hey guys? One of our resident tech masters says switch to recirculate on your air filters! Don’t be conspicuous about it, cuz something is not right! Oh, and Wrex? That means put on a damn helmet!” 

I heard his grunt and everyone else's acknowledgement. When Garrus, Tali, Liara and I got into the tunnels I stopped to tell them what we were doing. “Fai Dan thinks the Geth have put something down here, we need to find it and destroy it. Also the water system controls are down here so be on the lookout so we can get it running again!” 

We fanned out in formation with me on point, Tali and Liara in the middle, and Garrus bringing up the rear. As we worked down the stairs of the tower, my combat scanner stopped responding again. “Ok guys, there's a jumpy Geth in here! Be on the lookout!” Garrus switched to his sniper rifle and did a sweep of the room as far as he could. As he swung back around he stopped, popped off two rounds, and the scanner came back online. “Super sniper reporting for duty!” He chuckled as he put the gun back on its mounting point. “Yea yea… We’ll see how long that lasts super sniper!” I returned, chuckling myself.

We continued to work further down into the tower, only finding one more pocket of Geth. That all changed when we got into the basement proper. There was a long tunnel that seemed to run along an enormous cavern-like drop. We ducked inside only to find Geth patrolling the whole tunnel. Everyone took off for cover, with Liara thinking quickly on her feet and laying down a Singularity between us and them. 

I decided against detonating it and curved a few Throw Fields above and around it to push back some of the baseline Geth troops who were trying to gain ground on us. Tali was working furiously on her OmniTool when one of the Geth, farthest away from us, started firing on his companions. “You're gonna have to teach me that Tali,” Garrus said as his own hands were flying over his tool building an Overload. 

Geth troops shrieked as his Overload jammed their guns and the servos in their bodies. I popped out of cover and launched a grenade that attached itself to the wall near three other Geth. It exploded, sending them crashing into each other. Knowing her Singularity was getting ready to collapse, Liara flung a Warp Field at it that detonated the unstable mass. The Geth trying to get past it again were blown out into the void on our right. 

With most of them dealt with I pulled out of cover, shotgun pumping shots into some of the last standing Geth. Garrus took the final shot, offering it up as proof that the super sniper nickname rang true. 

I decided that this was a good time to take a rest for a few moments so we could catch our breath. It was amazing to me that we all worked so well with each other. Tali really only had basic military training and Liara could only get off good shots with her borrowed pistol. Taking turns we each checked ourselves over while the other three stood guard. 

While Tali was watching the way we came through, she walked over to a very old looking panel. “Hey, this looks like a panel for the water system...” She ran her OmniTool over the panel and after a few seconds the panel lit up and we could hear water churning. She closed her program and we moved on. 

The tunnel opened up to an opening a few steps up. Over on the right, there was a walkway that lead into a room across the cavern. To the left, there was a door with a glowing red lock. As we walked up to the door on the left, Garrus opened his hack module and as text started scrolling on the screen he pressed his hand into the haptic display on the lock. The display turned into a round dial mimicking a combination lock, spinning back and forth. After three switchbacks the lock turned green and he took his hand off the panel. 

Tali stepped up, “So, Garrus? Does the spinny thing actually help the program run?” He shook his head as he replied, “Nah, I got it from a guy who worked in C-Sec with me! Apparently humans used to have these manual locks called ‘condensation locks’ where you had to turn the dial to a certain number to unlock it and I thought it was cool!” 

I sighed, “It’s COMBINATION lock!” I chuckled as I continued, “We just stopped using them like 60 years ago!”” Liara looked so lost, “So, this is making me realize… I know nothing about humans!” 

I turned to her and offered her my best bad boy smile, “Stick with me kid, I'll make sure you know all you need to know!” Quickly hiding her blush she responded, Commander I am 106, I've very much the older of the two of us.” 

“Age has nothing on experience, Dr. T'Soni!” I called back, as I opened the door and walked in.

Everyone entered the large, empty room slowly. An older model rover sat in the corner, fire in the engine compartment burning slowly. I heard a growl before the pack of Varren jumped out at us. Two were caught in a Singularity provided by the good doctor. My shotgun blasted the closest charging Varren with two shots stopping him dead in his tracks. Tali and Garrus took out two more as Liara finished off the ones in her Singularity. 

Sighting down my shogun, I swept the room looking for more when a larger red Varren slowly walked from the higher landing to our right. When he was close enough he charged at us, our shots not effecting him. My aura kicked up around me as I launched a cerulean Throw Field at him. It sent him flying into the wall with a loud crunch. He slid down to rest on the floor, letting me know he was dead.

“Tali, Garrus, do me a favor and check out that Rover! See if there is anything of use. Dr. T'Soni? I see a few crates over in the corner. Let's check them out!” Tali and Garrus walked over, OmniTools open, and started going over the transport. Liara and I made our way over to the crates, guns drawn. After seeing there was no more threats we both holstered our weapons and started bypass programs on the two lockers. 

She turned to me, “Shepard, you're always so calm and cool! How do you do it?” I chuckled a little as I replied, “It's a lot of bravado. I get nervous all the time, but it will only get you killed if you let it get to you. Why do you ask?” 

She shuffled a little, then looked down as she replied, “Well, I want to stay with you all and help! It’s just I'm afraid that I'll do something wrong and get someone hurt.” 

“Well, I can always get you trained up! There seems to be a wealth of experience on the ship now. A lot of it is gonna come from you having confidence in yourself. Take the few fights we've been in, here on this mission. You’ve handled yourself magnificently and those Singularities have been a godsend!” She blushed a little and replied, “I just don't want to be a burden.” I put my hand on her shoulder, “Trust me, Wrex or Ashley will let you know if you are!” 

Her giggle was cut short by the program's beeping, alerting us to its completion. One locker had a few ammo upgrades, I figured I should take those back to Ash and Wrex, and an armor set for a Turian. The other locker had six grenades and cheap pistol. I OmniGelled the pistol, always amazed at the speed OmniTools could “cook” things down into the paste packets. We grabbed everything else up and walked back over to where Tali and Garrus both had power cells slung over their shoulders. Back out in the tunnel, we set everything down by the water valve Tali activated.

Looking across the large opening, I decided we'd head there next. When we were halfway across, all of our combat sensors died. “Super sniper? Look alive, we have jumpy ones again!!” I called back to Garrus. “Aye, aye commander!” Was his response between chuckles. The click of guns being unmounted could be heard as we slowly walked forward. 

At the opening, I directed Garrus and Liara to one side while Tali and I took the other. Peeping around the edge I could hear the whirring of servos and indecipherable chatter of Geth. I saw Garrus peep around with his sniper rifle. “Shepard, I see two jumpy ones, a large red one, and two Krogan.” I huffed as I told everyone, “Ok Liara, biotics heavy! Concentrate on keeping the Krogan from regenerating. Tali, I need that monster shotgun with me! We’re taking them head on, but deploy a drone to help Garrus while he works on those Geth.” I got a nod from all three and I checked my gun before I turned into the room. 

I rolled a grenade down the hallway that detonated between all three of the targets. It didn't do much, but it stripped the Barrier off at least one of the Krogan. I heard the shriek of one of the jumpy Geth and watched it fall. I started pumping shots at the charging beast in front of me. A Warp Field passed me and hit the Krogan dead in the chest. Even with his armor melting and twisting, he kept forward so I threw my own Warp Field, detonating it off Liara’s. 

THAT ended up stopping him as it sent him flying back into the other Krogan who was fighting to get out of Liaras Singularity. I heard the last jumpy Geth die and then Garrus's gunfire joined in with ours to focus on the three giants. The red Geth, tied up by Tali’s drone was the next to fall when both techies sent out Overload charges at it. The Krogan with warped armor met his end from two center-crest sniper shots.

Left with just one Krogan, I saw when his pupils dilated as he went into blood rage. “Aww shit! Everybody back out!!! I got a plan.” I screamed as we all backtracked out of the hall. As he stomped and ran towards us, I waited till he cleared the door frame and launched a Throw Field at his feet. He stumbled and hit the railing but his momentum pushed him over and he fell into the chasm.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and then turned to check my squad. Meeting eyes with each of them, we turned and started walking back into the corridor. The hall opened up into a large room with some type of antenna thing in the corner. Still thinking about the last thing I had thought to be an antenna, I told the team to stay away. Tali stepped up beside me, “Shepard, this looks like a normal homing beacon…”

I told them about the towers on Eden Prime, and the way they transformed the colonist. Liara gasped and Garrus went slack in the mandibles. Tali stood with her hand over her mouth port, eyes pulsing with each word. “Do you think we need to leave this alone?” Liara asked. Shaking my head I replied as I sighed, “No, unfortunately we do still need to check it out. I just wanted to explain…”

Tali and Garrus stepped closer and opened up the scan protocols on their OmniTools. After a few seconds, Tali turned to me. “This is how the Geth know to keep sending troops. It's the relay between the ground troops and the drop ship.” I narrowed my eyes behind my visor, “Scour the room, find anything useful and then when we're safely back in the hall, I'll blow this lil bitch right here!” Ten minutes later we had a few more mods, a new sniper rifle, and a new armor suit for Wrex to see if he wanted. 

Walking out, I flung a grenade that landed on the transmission tower. As we crossed the bridge back to the other side, I detonated the explosive causing the floor to shake a little. We set our new acquisitions with the other things and continued down the tunnel. There was another pocket of Geth that we had to deal with, but it wasn't hard. Tali found two more valves and was able to activate them causing water to flow back into the port. As we got to the end of the tunnel, we found an odd acting colonist. He was acting stranger than any of the others. He told us this name was Ian Newstead. When we pressed him on why he was down here, he told us he was “Invoking the masters whip” before he doubled over with a strained look on his face. 

Ian said that the pain he was feeling was the equivalent of running through a thorn bush. His features twisted in pain as some outside force tortured him in front of us. Through labored breaths he told us to ask Fai Dan about the secrets of Zhu’s Hope. The pain he was in looked excruciating as he refused our help, so we left him and worked our way back out. Grabbing all of the items, we headed back into the port


	25. The Plant King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds out, all is not as it seems. Thankfully, Shep seems to have a pretty capable team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never liked how vague Feros was...so I’m headcannoning a few things! Plus, MY Shepard thinks of Anderson as surrogate father, so they’ll check in with each other quite regularly! I also thought it was a waste how much they didn’t utilize the team’s skill set, everybody has a role on MY Shepard’s ship!
> 
> Plus I’m not above a “lucky coincidence” so enjoy my first “rough Prothean translation” the beacon gives Derek

**February 13, 2183 CE 1351 Hrs Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  


Getting back into the port, we headed straight for the makeshift medical area where Dr. Chakwas was tending over a pouty Wrex. “Shepard, your doc here is a firecracker! She’s already put me in a headlock twice!” Her British tinged response was, “Well, I'll do it again if I have to Wrex! Now sit still while the knitter does what it needs to!” He gave a good chuckle and laid back in the machine as it passed over him. I tapped the secure comm for the team, “Everybody report medical, quickly and quietly...” 

The team filed in one by one and after everyone was in, I walked over and pressed my OmniTool into the haptic display for the lock, adding an Alliance Command lock runtime to the door. “Garrus, scan the room for bugs and then set up a scrambler so no one can listen in on us.” He nodded his head, and started scanning the room. Ashley asked, “Skipper? Is everything alright?” I held my finger to my mouth and pointed to Garrus, signaling to wait until he was finished.

After he finished and closed his OmniTool, I turned to Tali, “Ma'am, if you could do me a favor as well? Over in the corner, there should be a panel that controls the air filtration and decon, see if you can't work some magic and get this room the same level of filtration as your suit.” She nodded and went to work while the rest of us stood waiting.

When she finished, I began, “I don't know if you all have noticed, but something is NOT right with these people! Our little run in, down in the tunnels just cemented it for me. Tali discovered some exotic spores in the air earlier and that's why I had all of you put on your helmet.” I walked over to Kaiden, my OmniTool open, and transferred him a program, “Kai, this should allow your medic program to analyze the spores. Get back to me when you have something.” He opened his Tool and went bug eyed as he watched the readout. “Shep! This is a pretty heavy program script! I thought you were in the Vanguard program?” He asked as the program booted up. 

I shrugged and replied, “You know I've never been a one trick pony! It’s hard to say you're running shit if you can't do it all, right?” There was a little grunt of agreement from everybody. Turning to my Turian and Quarian again, “I need you two to try to work on breaking in to the files that are stored here at the port, I copied Fai Dan’s OmniTool authorization codes while I was in the office, so hopefully with these you won't hit too many snags.” As I finished, I transferred the data files to them both. 

Turning to the doctor, “Dr. T’Soni. In a minute we're gonna go study and document some ruins. I have a feeling that it isn't a coincidence that the Geth are here at a known Prothean ruin!” Facing Dr. Chakwas I said, “Doc! Get my Krogan fixed! Ashley will stay here to keep you safe.” Ashley nodded, as did Dr. Chakwas and Wrex. 

“I want this done quickly and quietly!!! I don't want to raise suspicions. Watch out for that Arcelia woman and be mindful of Fai Dan as well! They have been very observant since we got here. Oh and full helmets until Kaiden figures something out.” 

After a few minutes we all started out on our tasks. Leaving out last, I programmed the door to only respond to our personal IFFs. I added the Alliance seal to make it look official. Liara and I went to find Fai Dan first, “There you are! We cleared the tunnels, there WAS a homing beacon down there. We also found a Varren pack that we dealt with and some power cells. Oh and the water should be running again!” 

His features were very neutral as he responded, “That's amazing! It will help tremendously to have those problems taken care of.” I purposely left Ian out, just in case he was in danger. Confirming my suspicions, Fai Dan asked if we'd found any survivors down there. I shook my head ‘no’ in response as his watchful eye seemed to inspect me. 

His conversation took an odd turn as he said, “The air is breathable Commander, you all can take off your helmets.” I felt Liara push into my arm a little and gave her the slightest of head shake. “Unfortunately, I lost a teammate a few weeks ago because he wasn't wearing a helmet so I've told everyone to keep theirs on until we are sure the port is free of Geth.” I responded, which seem to put him at odds. 

“Very well Commander, what are your next moves?” He asked. I told him how Liara was a Prothean expert and we were going to try to decipher some of the ruins. He bristled a little but kept his composure as he told us he hoped we found what we were looking for. Bowing away he told us he had other things to tend to and would check on us later, but we had free reign of the port. 

“Shepard, he knows something! I can feel it!” Liara whispered once he was out of earshot. “I agree, but I don't want him snooping so I'll leave it alone for now.” I replied. She nodded and we walked back towards the tower we came in through. Starting there, I took the photos of the strange writing, while she catalogued and started running them through the algorithms she had for decoding. I passed over a selection of odd glyphs that seemed to be written in a hurry. These didn't even seem to be written in the same language. As my eyes roamed over it again, my head got a strong fuzzy feeling. I got a little light headed and thought I was about to pass out. Right before I stumbled forward a bit, words seemed to form in my head. 

“Liara, can you tell what this says?” I asked as I held my head. She walked over and took a look, then looked at me, “This is written in a different dialect than the rest of the ruins. Shepard are you ok?” I shook my head, “I think the beacon just allowed me to read some of it.” I could see her frown under her helmet, “I meant do you feel ok? You look a little pale!” 

Shaking my head again, I said, “Yea yea...I'm fine, but I'm worried about what I think I read? ‘Beware of the unreclaimed heavens for they embrace the corpuscles of the flora sovereign that obliges those who respire on this terrain’ if that makes sense?” 

I could see her still frowning under her helmet, “That doesn't make sense, are you sure?” I shook my head in agreement and she passed over the passage with her OmniTool. “Well, it definitely picked up ‘Beware’ and ‘Flora’ so maybe you're right? But what does it mean?”

Before I could respond, Kaiden came across the comm, “Powder to Cerulean? Come in Cerulean!” I touched my comm, “Go for for Cerulean.” 

“Hey, everybody needs to get back here immediately! That program finished running, and it's not good!” Came Kaiden’s quick response. I replied and switched to the full comm channel, “Okay, everybody! Back to Medical, quickly!” We turned and made our way back through the ruins and into the port proper. Once everyone was back in the room and it was re-pressurized and scrubbed, Kaiden opened his OmniTool to show us the readouts. 

His smooth voice started, “Hey Shep, I don’t know how you got your hand on this, but this module is amazing. These aren’t just any normal plant spores. These spores seem drawn to spinal fluid of at least humans, asari, and turians. The program can’t replicate how they filter through the redundancies of Krogan systems, and the suit filters stop the spores completely for Quarians. After they are in the spinal fluid they move to attach near nerve synapses to override signals. They also seem to be transmitting a low strength quantum entanglement signal that gets stronger as more spores are present. These aren’t just spores to pollinate, they’re meant to hijack the body of whatever they enter and give control to whatever this flowering plant is.” 

Ending his presentation Kaiden looked around the room, and Liara was the first to respond, “That special passage makes so much more sense now! It was warning us about the spores of the Plant King!” I put my fists up to my eyes as I said, “Great, so I have Geth, crazy plants, and suspect ass colonist. Cool, got it! Tomorrow we’re heading up to the ExoGeni facility. We should be able to get there with a Mako but we’re definitely going back to the ship tonight.”

Chakwas said that Wrex was good enough to move back to the ship, so I had everyone pack up and head back while I went to talk to Fai Dan. “We’re gonna head back to the ship for the night and we’ll be back in the morning.” Once again, he was more neutral than I thought was necessary as he said, “We have room here if you all want to stay here in the port?” I shook my head as I said firmly, “It’s ok! Plus it will give us a chance to get more equipment for the mission.” Again, he seemed conflicted as he agreed. 

Once we had everyone was back aboard the ship, I went into the cockpit, “Joker, short of this mother fu**er being on fire, that airlock stays sealed, and the clean air stays on recirculate!” He held up his hands as he said, “I know, I know! I was on the channel when Boy Scout gave his report!” Nodding as I turned, I headed to Pressly and got his report before I went down to my private quarters. I checked the time and opened my OmniTool scrolling until I got to Anderson info.

The video connected after a few moments to a groggy Captain. He rubbed his eyes and said, “About time you called son! Thirty more minutes and you wouldn’t have gotten an answer!” I winced as I said, “Sorry sir, I thought it was a little earlier.” He waved it away as he said, “I was only joking Derek. What’s with this ‘sir’ crap?” I shrugged and replied, “Damn Anderson! I’m trying to turn over a new leaf!” He chuckled and said, “Son, you are incapable of change! You’re stubborn for life!”

We talked for almost an hour as I told him about everything that happened. He gave me a few ideas and told me to continue to tread carefully around the Council. When we finished, I felt better about everything. I sent a quick message to everyone, telling them we’d have a meeting at 0900. For the first time since Eden Prime I fell asleep, and stayed that way.


	26. Skyway Highway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard and crew head out to ExoGeni headquarters...

**February 14, 2183 CE 0842 Hrs Port Zhu’s Hope, Normandy Debriefing Room**

  
  
  


The next morning when everybody was in the room and seated, I started going over the plans. Garrus, Wrex, Liara and I were gonna head up to the part of the ruins where they’d built Exogeni Headquarters and see if we could find any survivors. While we were there, Liara was gonna data mine their servers to see if they had any idea what was going on at the port. Tail was going to see what she could hack from the actual port while Kaiden and Ashley helped some of the guards get back on their feet.

Getting all of our gear together, we walked back down into the port. Fai Dan directed us to the garage so we could use one of their Rovers to get up there. Before we split up, I pulled Ashely to the side and said, “Hey, Boy Scout over there likes to see the good in people too much. If it gets bonkers down here, I’m putting you in charge of making the decision to pull back to ship and lock it down. I’ll get the team back so don’t worry about us!” She stood up a little straighter as she snapped off a crisp salute. 

A giddy smile crept across her face as she looked over at Kaiden and said, “Yea, his heart is too big for his own good!” I gave her a knowing smile as I nodded in agreement. 

When we walked out to the waiting vehicle, Garrus stopped before he got to the hatch and said, “You mind if I take the wheel? Kinda wanna keep my breakfast!” Liara had a puzzled look as Wrex broke out into full blown laughter. I narrowed my eyes as I said, “What, are you implying Super Sniper?” Wrex deadpanned as he said, “He’s saying you do a lot of things well! ...driving isn’t one of them!” I leaned back on my left leg as I crossed my arms with a smirk on my face. Liara leaned over and asked, “Are you that bad?” I made a pouty face and was about to reply when our comms lit up with a resounding “Yes” from the whole ground team.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I replied, “You all can take turns blowing it out of your asses!!!” Nonetheless, I let Vakarian get in the driver's seat as we entered the truck. Waving my hand dismissively, I said, “Let’s go my Turian Chauffeur!” We we’re out of the Garage and driving down a crumbling, but stable pathway high above the ground. The drive seemed pleasant, until a Geth Dropship flew in, above us. Two of the huge four-legged Geth machines dropped down in our path. Wrex jumped in the gunners chair as I jumped in the rocket one. Garrus, much like Tali, was an expert at keeping us from being hit without throwing us around. When the last one was dealt with, Garrus said, while he twisted his hand in the air boastfully, “Super Sniper... Grand Hacker... Driver Extraordinaire...” 

Rolling my eyes I said, “And sooo damn modest too...” Garrus continued forward as he chuckled, traversing the rough terrain with ease. We met another pocket of Geth, this one a little more substantial, but Super Sniper got us through. All was going well until we heard a staticky transmission. Liara tried to pin-point where it was coming from but the static was too strong. 

Continuing to drive along, we saw a Geth Trooper duck into an open doorway. Garrus pulled up and Wrex and I jumped out. Investigating the doorway, we found ourselves in a tunnel that ran under the skyway. We handled the few Geth we found, and helped ourselves to the crate and locker at the end.

Hopping back in, Liara told us they’d heard two more transmissions while we were out. Garrus started moving again when the next transmission that we heard said they could hear our Rover! They sounded human, or at least not Geth… or plant. Riding up a ramp, we came to what seemed like some type of station. There was a lot of noise coming from inside and someone kept saying be quiet, like we couldn’t hear them.

Garrus stopped and all four of us hopped out and fell into formation with me at the front, Liara and Wrex in the middle, and Super Sniper bringing up our rear. We crept down, guns at the ready. The hall opened up to a small stone room with a few humans standing around. The man who seemed to be in charge demanded, “Who are you!?” Lowering my gun a fraction, I replied, “Commander Shepard of the Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance… and you are?” The man folded his arms defensively as he replied, “Ethan Jeong, representative of ExoGeni Corp...” 

We all lowered our weapons as I said cautiously, “So ExoGeni doesn’t just have a headquarters here? It runs this colony?” The woman beside him answered, “Yes, but communication has been cut. We don’t even know if the people at the port are still alive.” Ethan spun around to her, “I told you, they’re probably dead! We just need to wait for Corporate to send someone to rescue us!” I rolled my eyes, “They’re not dead, we ARE the rescue!” He stammered as he said, “Only four of you? We’ll never get out! Communication has been down ever since that Geth ship attached itself to headquarters.” I shrugged as I replied, “I’m heading up there now, so I guess that problem can be dealt with too!”

The small statured man found some spunk as he said, “YOU CAN’T GO SOLDIER, that’s private property!!!” Eyebrow raised as my biotic aura kicked up around me, I looked straight in his eyes and asked menacingly, “Exactly who is gonna stop me? You?” He stepped back a little, but the woman cut between us, “Look, don’t mind him. My name Juliana Baynham, if you’re going up there, can you keep an eye out for my daughter Lizbeth?!” I softened as the energies around me dissipated, “That I can do! What can you tell me about what’s going on?”

She explained about the colony trying to establish itself, ExoGeni as the backing, and the Headquarters getting run over before they escaped. Interestingly, she said nothing about the spores in the air. So I said nothing either since these people were not giving me the same vibes as the ones at the port. Jeong tried a few more times to interject frivolous warnings about company policy or property and we ignored him. Getting ready to head back to the Rover, one of the Techs ran over to me. I’m a hushed voice he said, “Hey, umm can you do me a favor?” 

I listened to the man, who I found out was Gavin Hossle, and agreed to grab his data from his terminal. He discreetly slipped an OSD in my pocket and we were out the door. Once back in the Rover, Liara was the first to pipe up, “Did anybody else realize they’re not like the people at the port?” Wrex replied, “Keep that intuition kid, it will save your life one day!” Garrus hummed in agreement as he drove up the ramp, and back out onto the skyway. We dealt with a few more pockets of Geth, that Super Sniper gloated about. Finally we pulled up to a large tower with a Geth Dropship attached to the side like a pesky bug.


	27. Welcome To ExoGeni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feros is almost halfway done!

**February 14, 2183 CE 1015 Hrs Zhu’s Hope, Skyway En-Route to ExoGeni Headquarters**

  
  


As Garrus stopped the Rover, our sensors all went dead. “Jumpy Geth guys! Look alive!” I said as I opened the hatch and swung out. I did a sweep of the large opening we were in and just barely caught the machine as it jumped to the next wall. A twist of my hand sent out a Warp Field catching it mid-jump. A shot from behind me from Vakarian put the machine in the dirt. The sensors came back and went back out immediately. There was another sniper shot, but this one came from opposite of Garrus. 

Liara called out, “My Barrier?! Something just shot me!!” She dove behind some debris as we searched for the shooter. My own Barrier shattered after another shot from the unknown location. I rolled into cover beside Liara to wait until my Barrier recharged. “Guys, can you find that bugger before it gets all of us!” I shouted into the comms. Garrus responded, “I think I found it? It's a jumpy one but I can’t get a lock on it! If someone can slow it down I’ll do my thing.” I caught a glimpse of Wrex’s Amethyst Pull Field catching the Geth in mid air, followed by Garrus and his sniper rifle.

Our sensors came back online and we didn’t register any other Geth. Liara and I stood up and joined Garrus and Wrex at the entrance to the building. “You two done playing hide and seek?” Wrex asked jokingly. I smirked as I replied, “...I’ve headbutted a Krogan before sir!” He grinned and chuckled as we entered the building. The large room was full of sunlight and nothing else.

A door sat to our right and an opening that was currently covered in a Barrier Curtain was on our left. Liara sighed, “Can I go back? I don’t want to get stuck in another Stasis Bubble!” Not thinking, I blurted out, “I wouldn’t mind getting stuck with you...” She paused and looked over at me as I got wide eyed, realizing what I said. Her face softened and she winked before turning back towards the Barrier. Clearing my throat I suggested we check out the locked door first.

We ended up finding a weapons cache with a few junk pistols. There was also one of the four-legged Geth that we ended up having to fight in the small room too. Back out in the entrance, everyone checked themselves over. After a small break, we searched the room for a way in. “Hey Shepard! I think this goes down into some kind of Garage,” Garrus said while standing next to a broken set of stairs. “Looks like a one way trip, Vakarian!” Wrex added as Garrus shrugged.

“Guess we’re fighting our way out,” I said as I jumped down and turned waiting for the others. One by one they jumped down and I took the lead with my assault rifle as I watched for anything jumping out. We got to the end of the hall, and it did open up into a garage-like structure. A single pistol shot rang out before a young human woman gasped and apologized. She introduced herself as Lizbeth, and she was relieved that her mother was alive.

I asked her about the port, ExoGeni, and the Geth. She was the most forthcoming, spilling the beans on the plant. It was a wild ride of a tale as she explained them finding the Thorian, using Zhu’s Hope as a test group, and her finally trying to contact the Citadel right before the Geth knocked out communication. All four of us were standing in shock at the audacity of the corporation, like nobody would find out?! She gave us her Keycard and told us we could go up through the entrance on the left.


	28. Stupid Machine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally inside ExoGeni, Shepard and crew fight through the Headquarters. The also uncover the beginnings of some bulls**t

**February 14, 2183 CE 1215 Hrs Zhu’s Hope, ExoGeni Headquarters**

  
  


Walking in, we headed up the stairs but I stopped the team because I could hear voices above us. “Stupid machine! Tell me what I want to know!” Barked the angry Krogan standing in front of the VI terminal. “Please contact your supervisor for level four clearance..” came the machine’s response. The Krogan got angry and screamed, “Tell me what I want to know before I blast your virtual ass in to actual dust!!” The montoned VI replied, “If there is nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for use of this terminal.”

He spun around to face us, drawing his weapon. Before he could fire, he was literally thrown into the stone wall behind him as Warp Fields from Wrex and I both detonated off Liara’s Singularity she’d formed beside him. He fell out of the Krogan shaped crater, stood, and toppled over with orange blood gushing out of his armor. “That was good thinking T’Soni!” Wrex chuckled. She stood a little straighter as she beamed at the compliment and replied, “My mother drilled how to use Singularities offensively into me.” 

I smirked as I said, “And you didn’t think you could hang, HA!” Her smiled deepened as we walked up to the VI terminal. “Welcome back Lizbeth, what can I assist you with?” Asked the VI. For the next few minutes, we used her credentials to snoop and find out everything we could. I also found the location of Gavin’s office. Lizbeth hadn’t lied to us, and ExoGeni was gonna be in some deep shit when I got through with this crap. 

We left the VI and wound our way through the building. Coming into an empty room, we noticed one of the “legs” of the Geth ship literally anchored into the stone of the tower. Continuing on, we ended up on a catwalk and below us two Geth seemed to be praying to a glowing orb. Taking both in pairs, they didn’t even get a chance to respond before they were exterminated. Hopping down Garrus said, “Do machines worship?” There was definitely an alter-like vibe, but it didn’t matter. They were killing people, so we were killing them!

After a few moments of staring at the orb, we moved on. Entering what seemed to be the main entrance, we realized we were on the other side of the Barrier Curtain. Geth poured in suddenly from all sides in an ambush attack. We met back to back forming a loose square as we quickly surveyed the attack. Garrus and Wrex broke off one way and Liara and I, the other. It was a few solid minutes of biotics and assault rifle fire against those crazy Geth guns that were very successful in eating through our Barriers and Shields. Somehow we all ended up on the same wall, gunning down the last few Geth when three Krogan joined the party.

“Shepard, back me up with a few Warps!” Wrex called out before he charged at the first Krogan. I threw out two small Warp Fields, attempting to strip off the shield of the Krogan in question. There was a loud crunch as Wrex rammed the mercenary bathed in his amethyst aura. It caught the group off guard enough that the small Singularity that Liara formed in the center of them went unnoticed. This time it was a very large Warp I threw out, exploding Liara’s field and destroying all three Krogan’s shields completely.

A loud sizzle followed as Garrus Overloaded their guns causing them to drop them in rage and charge at us as a group. A Lift Field passed by me catching all three targets. I turned to catch Liara relaxing as they floated above us. Garrus, having switched to his sniper rifle, took the shots needed to put them down. Making sure there were no other attackers, I crossed the room and entered a small office that belonged to Hossle. Accessing the terminal in the corner, I pulled out the OSD from my pocket.

Hossle’s OSD did its job and dinged when it was finished. I made my own copy of the information as well because I’d found out long ago, you never know what’s important until you don’t have it. We left back out and continued further into the facility. The hall opened up into a long room with stairs going to a balcony. As soon as we stepped in my Barrier shattered again from an unknown sniper.

“I swear I’m gonna lose my shit if I get shot by another sniper!” I screamed as I rolled into the only cover the room provided. The team backed back into the hallway, giving themselves small protection from the sniper shots. I could hear mechanical voices chirping so taking my shotgun out, I called into the comm, “Garrus be ready, I’m going to try and find that sniper!” When I heard him agree, I popped out and hip-fired my gun, disorienting the Geth as they turned their focus to me and not the door.

I saw the red beam a fraction of a second before the bullet broke my Barrier again. Now that I knew where it was coming from I sent out a Pull Field that lifted caught the Geth and the crate it was hiding behind. “Shepard I can’t shoot it while it’s still behind the crate!” Called out my sniper. “Let me!” Stated the good doctor as her Warp detonated my field flinging the Geth into a wall and the crate into the group of Geth that I hadn’t noticed advancing on me.

Wrex ran past me in bathed in Amethyst screaming, “I am Krogan!!” The first Geth he rammed crumpled just from the force of his hit. Swinging his shotgun, he fired twice into the next before he swung a biotically assisted fist into the light on its head. There was a shriek as it fell dead. Two more were thrown against the wall by more Amethyst fists. One was trying to sneak up on him, but was blown back by a concussive round from Super Sniper. Wrex didn’t even slow down as he said over the comms, “Thanks Turian...” His next victim was ended with four shotgun shot into its chest. Unfortunately that finally overheated his gun and locked the trigger as it ran a forced cooldown. It didn’t matter because he just twisted the gun in his hand as his biotic aura crept up the gun and he used it to bash the final Geth until it’s head toppled to the ground.

He stood with seven or eight dead enemies around him, heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Grinning, I trotted up to him, patting him on the back, “It’s nice to have a Krogan on your side!” We searched the room a little while we got our bearings back. Liara found a terminal that had a distress call from an odd planet in the Maroon Sea cluster. I downloaded it and we started up the stairs to the balcony. “Hey there’s another claw, but this one seems to be stuck in those shuttle bay doors.” Garrus said as he stopped and focused with his visor.

“Let’s finish cleaning up!” I said pulling him along. Descending the stairs on the other side of the balcony dropped us into another cluster of enemies. They didn’t notice us so I hit my comm, “Liara? I need the biggest Singularity you can form, right in the center of them. Garrus, Wrex? I’m getting ready to do something stupid! Be ready to clean up the stragglers!” Everyone confirmed with silent nods, so I let my biotics engulf my whole body until I was a walking cerulean Warp Field. 

Liara created a singularly two feet wide, which caught the attention of the Geth around . As they closed in, I jumped off the balcony, diving for the unstable mass effect field. As soon as my body hit the edge, it exploded. The Geth, and myself, were ragdolled into the air. I slammed into the wall behind the stairs, and immediately hit my MediGel. As I blinked the stars out of my eyes, the team demolished the unshielded and stunned Geth. Finally able to stand, as I got up, I felt a large hand easing my movements.

Wrex was balled up in a fit of laughter. “You got a maw-fucking quad Derek!” I grinned as I stumbled a bit, glad he still had a grip on my arm. Liara and Garrus walked over with Garrus being the first to speak, “I guess one of them said something about your mother, huh?” Liara frowned in confusion as I grinned at the zesty Turian. “You’ve been spending too much time with Alenko, Super Sniper!” Wrex turned to Liara, “This isn’t new young one, he’s apparently always done things like this.”

I rolled my eyes, “Just because you have redundant organs, does NOT mean you get to have all the fun!” All Liara offered was a shrug before she walked over to a terminal to see what she could find. She downloaded a file that showed Geth movements in the Armstrong Nebula. We searched the entire room trying to find someway to bring the force field down. Garrus finally said, “Derek! I got an idea!” We all walked over to the control panel he was standing in front of.

“I think the force field is controlled by the ship. If we dislodge it, I think it will kill the field. All those cables seem attached!” Garrus made a point to motion towards the cables running through the doors. “Good job detective Turian! Now how do we get the ship off?” Wrex said with a slight grumble. Garrus’s mandibles went slack, before they pulled tight, the Turian equivalent of a frown, as he continued, “I think if I can get this pressure right, it will shear that leg off. Probably will be enough to pull the ship down?”

Throwing my hands up I said, “Let’s do this shit then! Cuz this mission has been crazy so far, and it’s your turn Garrus!” His hands flew across the inputs and after a few moments the doors of the cargo bay slammed shut. The leg was sheared off and the building shuddered as the other legs came undone, unable to hold the ship. 

The moment the barrier went down, our team comms lit up! Joker was on the other end and he sounded frazzled. “COMMANDER! I hope you can hear me! Ash forced everybody back on the ship and into lockdown two hours ago! We’ve been trying to reach you! The colonist have gone crazy!” Letting my head roll back in annoyance, I replied, “Don’t let those jackasses on our ship, Joker!” I got back a simple, “Aye, Commander!”

My personal comm buzzed to a frantic Ashley. “Skipper, I didn’t know what else to do! They just attacked us! So I pulled everyone back!” Trying to reassure her over the voice comm I said, “Ash! You did exactly what you were supposed to do! I’m proud soldier!” I could hear the pick up in her tone as she offered an “Aye Commander” as well, before she closed the line. Turning back to the group, “How about we head out and see what else the beautiful Feros has in store for us huh?”

As we walked back to the front, Lizbeth had made it out to meet us. I took an aggressive stance as I folded my arms, “ExoGeni seems to have quite some explaining to do!” She came clean about everything from her writeups about being vocal against the experiment, to the nature of the plant’s abilities. I shook my head and told her to hop in with us, at least I could get her back to her mother.


	29. Pissed Off SpecTRe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight is just starting, but Ethan makes one of the biggest mistakes you can make with Derek Shepard

**February 14, 2183 CE 1442 Hrs Zhu’s Hope, Skyway En-Route from ExoGeni Headquarters**

We started out from the headquarters and just like roaches, Geth swarmed the skyway. Garrus expertly drove us through the clusterfuck as Wrex and I used the cannon and railgun to clear out the machines. As we got close to the weigh station, we intercepted another open comm from the ExoGeni survivors. Juliana was asking for help when Jeong cut her off, telling her to get away from the radio. Another general distress call came out before the comms went dead abruptly. “STOP THE ROVER!!” Screamed Lizbeth as she pulled the handle and jumped out running for the station.

Garrus stopped and we all jumped out, trying to catch her before she did something crazy. When we caught up, she had ducked down behind a barrier in the entryway. Jeong instructed ExoGeni security to take Juliana away. Lizbeth jumped out before I could grab her. She ran towards her mother screaming, “LET HER GO YOU SONOFABITCH!” Mother and daughter met in a hug and turned to face Jeong together. “Come out I know you’re there!” The mousey Jeong ordered.

We stood, and walked into the room. The panic in his face told how nervous he was. “I thought the Geth would have taken care of you.” I frowned as I crossed my arms, “If you thought that would stop me, then you obviously don’t know who I am!” He pointed a finger at me, “I found out a lot about you in the ExoGeni files! This doesn’t have to end like Akuze!” I couldn’t even catch myself before my body responded.

My biotics lit up around me, a cerulean warning, as I glared daggers at him. My voice was tight and very cold as I told him,

“Unless you’re ready to watch everyone in this room die, then survive alone and be awarded when all you want to do is die with your battle brothers and sisters? I suggest you watch what the fuck you say to the biotic SPecTRe who just fought his way back out of YOUR fuck up!” 

Everyone in the room was holding their breath, including my team. Jeong stammered, “ExoGeni wants the colony purged!” Lizbeth was the first one to respond, “This is a human colony, they can’t repurpose us!”

“There’s more than the colony, more valuable than you!” Jeong answered, forgetting he was still in danger. Unfolding my arms, biotics still roaring around me. “Jeong! There’s a list of shit we’re not doing today! And somehow everything you say seems to end up on it! We already know about the Thorian!” Juliana asked questionly what we were talking about, trying to seem like she didn’t know but Lizbeth answered for me. Turing to stare at Jeong as well, Juliana said, “You won’t get away with this Jeong!” He responded flippant, “So you keep saying, but nobody is gonna miss a few colonists.”

Next thing he knew, he was flying across the room courtesy of one of my Throw Fields. As I lowered my hand, the energies finally dissipated around me and I said, “Nobody will miss an arrogant ExoGeni rep faster!” He stood up, pulling a pistol shouting, “If that’s how it’s gonna be, come on!” I didn’t even get a chance to say anything before the gun was snatched out of his hand by a Pull Field from Liara. A growl from Wrex followed before a little red light showing up on his chest, courtesy of Super Sniper behind me, let him know my team’s intentions.

I smirked, “Exactly HOW, was it gonna be… Ethan?” Jeong was silent as I turned to Juliana. I let out a sigh, “So, we have a problem. The colonists have gone berserk, my team has already confirmed they’ve become erratic.” Juliana looked off thinking before she said, “I wonder how low grade pesticide would affect them.” I smiled, “I’m listening?” 

“The spores are plant based, a plant pesticide should damage or interfere with the connection. We might even be able to adjust your grenades to use it!” She offered, stroking her chin in thought. I pulled my grenades out, but she shook her head. “Actually, let me see your launcher. I can adjust the ammo slot to coat the grenade as you shoot it. It won’t last forever, but hopefully you’ll be able to stop most of the colonists before the paste runs out.” 

Wrex perked up at the thought of modding guns. “Do you have enough to coat four ammo chambers?” Juliana frowned, “I think there is enough to coat four, but you’d have to be cautious with your shots!” I interjected, “Liara can use my grenade launcher, and Garrus can use his sniper rifle since he has concussive blasts. Me and Wrex do our best up close, so we can stick to a few Biotic assisted punches. Can’t fight if you’re unconscious!” Wrex grinned at me, “Derek you know just what to say to make an old man blush!”

Juliana and Wrex took to the table in the corner to mod the guns. Hossle slowly walked up to me and asked if I was able to retrieve his files. I slipped the disk into his pocket as I leaned in. “It would be a shame if ExoGeni found out about corporate espionage happening right under their noses?” He smiled a sly smirk as my OmniTool pulsed. “Hopefully that’s enough for a silent partner to stay silent. If you need anything in the future, don’t hesitate to ask!” I grinned and patted him on the back as I responded, “My man! Pleasure doing business!”

Juliana and Wrex finished up, meeting us back at the entrance. Liara took the launcher and Garrus remounted his rifle. Turning to leave, I stopped and said to the security guards, “Keep him in check, SpecTRe orders, I’ll deal with him afterwards!” We left out without another word.


	30. Green Goo, Green Goo All Over You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek just wants to finish the mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the start of some Feros rewrite...hope you guys enjoy

**February 14, 2183 CE 1542 Hrs Zhu’s Hope, Skyway En-Route to Port Zhu’s Hope**

  
  


I drove on the ride back to the port, needing to get out my frustrations. The Geth who seemed to be trying to impede our return were ran over. I never took my hand off the forward paddle that I’d set to full speed. The others were busy checking each other and getting some rations in their stomach. “Uhh, Shepard? We can shoot them if you’d like?” Garrus called from the rear compartment. I responded cold unintentionally, “Garrus, normally I’d have something witty to say, but right now… just drop it, okay buddy?” He shook his head as he apologized. I sighed as I said, “Look, I’m sorry Garrus. I just don’t like to talk about Akuze, and I definitely don’t like it thrown in my face!” 

His subharmonics rang out in understanding and sorrow. “It sounds like a few strong drinks might be needed?” To my surprise Wrex and Liara chimed in, in agreement. “I’ll take you up on that Super Sniper! I’m sure everybody has at least one story to tell.” I said as I ran over another Geth. The rest of the drive was quiet as I sped down the skyway towards the port.

Pulling up to the garage door, it didn’t automatically open. We hopped out and that’s when we noticed two strange things flanking the entrance. Unfolding themselves, the zombie-like plant people moaned before they ran at us. The team backed up, before one of the things came to a stop, and vomited green goo over all of us. The projectile goop stuck to our suits. When our alarms started going off, I realized it was eating through our armor!

We mowed the creatures down in a hail of bullets, as I said, “Soo, no goo… got it! This planet fucking sucks!” The garage door was locked and glowing red, so I nodded to Super Sniper and he opened his OmniTool to start hacking the lock. Once the light was green, I turned to everyone and said, “Don’t hit the colonists unless it’s a punch or the gas. These new creatures, watch em, but kill them.” After everyone nodded, I hit the release and rolled into a crouch while focusing all my biotics into my barrier. 

The bullets started immediately from the colonists and a few of those green creepy things ran towards us. “T’Soni! Hit those colonists up at the top, they’re the only ones with guns!” I heard the launcher and saw the group slump as the gas did its job. Wrex and I ran in shotguns blazing, taking out the green things before they got close. When the garage was clear, we tied the colonists up before moving forward. We didn’t need them coming up behind us.

The stairway was about the same as the garage, a gas grenade and then me and Wrex cleaning up. One of the colonists who wasn’t in the grenade’s blast radius landed a shot on me that shattered my Barrier. Garrus took them down with a Concussive Blast. Once we got down into the actual port, all hell broke loose. The colonists weren’t grouping up as much and there wasn’t any of the green things anymore so Wrex and I had to run through with just some well placed biotic punches. 

Twenty minutes later we had all the colonists subdued and tied up. Fai Dan came around the corner, pistol leveled directly at me. 

“It… it… wants me to stop you! but… I WON’T! PLEASE! Save my people... Tell Arcelia, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough!” 

With a final scream, he turned the gun on himself and fired point blank. My breath caught as I watched his head explode from the shot.


End file.
